GangaGen secures US$2.1 million from CARB-X for lead optimization

New Delhi: GangaGen has secured the second portion of its phased funding grant from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator), the global partnership led by Boston University aimed at supporting the development of antibacterial products to diagnose, prevent and treat drug-resistant infections.

The grant was awarded to GangaGen based on the successful accomplishment of agreed milestones within the previously announced CARB-X collaboration for their “Klebicin program.” This program takes a highly innovative approach to address infections caused by multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae. CARB-X has already committed US $2.1 million for GangaGen’s lead optimization.

GangaGen will be eligible for additional funding to complete lead optimization, proceed through preclinical development, and demonstrate safety in human volunteers, if project milestones are met, subject to the availability of funds.

“We now know that antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae ranks among the top 6 pathogens driving the global burden of disease,” said Erin Duffy, PhD, R&D Chief of CARB-X. “Gangagen’s novel, pathogen-specific approach offers a potential useful therapeutic to reduce this global burden.”

Tanjore S Balganesh, President of GangaGen Biotechnologies, said: “We are pleased to have met the initial project milestone and delighted to receive further CARB-X funding that will enable us to take the Klebicin program to the next phase of product development. Klebicins are protein antibacterials that specifically kill K. pneumoniae, a hard-to-treat pulmonary pathogen that is highly resistant to current antibiotics. We are grateful to CARB-X for the continued partnership and support to develop klebicins for the treatment of pneumonia”.

“We are happy to be a part of the global effort to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR), among the top 10 threats to global health. Working with CARB-X, we hope to deliver novel treatments for treating drug-resistant pathogens in a timely manner,” said Suchad Chiaranussati, Board Member, GangaGen Biotechnologies.

K. pneumoniae presents a serious health challenge around the world and is of increasing concern in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where it can cause life-threatening infections such as pneumonia and neonatal sepsis. To address this unmet medical need, GangaGen is developing a new class of therapeutics called klebicins as precision agents to targetK. pneumoniae. Klebicins’ novel mechanism of action should enable specific killing of the target pathogen without impacting the microbiome.