Dear All:
Just announced today (press release, website), Novo Holdings has created a $165m impact fund that seeks to support novel therapies from Lead Optimization (LO) through Phase 1. The fund specifically targets “first-in-class therapies, covering small molecules, biologics, and new modalities.” Similar to the focus of CARB-X, REPAIR (Replenishing and Enabling the Pipeline for Anti-Infective Resistance) will focus on priority pathogens from the CDC and WHO priority lists.
The origin of the idea for this project appears to be from social impact goals of the Novo Nordisk Foundation: “The vision of the Foundation is to contribute significantly to research and development that improves the health and welfare of people. The Foundation donates about $300-600 million per year primarily for medical research.”
A first round of investments dedicated to European companies will start in April 2018 (non-confidential presentations can be sent until 15 May 2018) and is expected to lead to investments by the end of 2018. A second round of investments focusing on United States companies will start in the fall 2018.
All told, the fund expects to invest USD 20-40 million per year over 3–5 years in about 20 projects in Europe and the United States. The overall goal is at least one new therapy reaching the market.
It’s exciting to see this additional source of push funding! Although funds from REPAIR are presumably dilutive in nature (rather than the non-dilutive financing of CARB-X), the availability of funds from a group who understand the challenge and opportunity of antimicrobial resistance will be a powerful new force for progress. Thank you, Team Novo!
All best wishes, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Expert-in-Residence, Wellcome Trust. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://13.43.35.2/blog/
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community:
- 28 Feb 2018 (Brussels): Deadline for responses to IMI2 Call 13 (Topic 3) on AMR diagnostics
- 2 Mar 2016 (Berlin): BEAM-sponsored 1-day “Big Drugs for Bad Bugs” conference
- 11-16 Mar 2018 (Ventura Beach): Gordon Research Conference on Antibacterial Discovery
- 12-13 Mar 2018 (London): BSAC’s Spring Conference
- 19 Mar 2018 (Washington: Duke-Margolis & FDA event: “Utilizing Innovative Statistical Methods and Trial Designs in Rare Disease Settings”
- [NEW] 20 Mar 2018 (Washington): FDA workshop on complex, innovative trial designs. See also this FR notice.
- 27-29 Mar 2018 (Cardiff, UK): BSAC-sponsored 3-day residential Workshop on Susceptibility Testing
- 16 Apr 2018 (Washington): Duke-Margolis & FDA event: “Evaluating Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria in Clinical Trials”
- 21-24 Apr 2018 (Madrid): ECCMID
- [NEW] 4-7 Jun 2018 (Boston): BIO (multiple AMR-focused sessions are expected)
- 7-11 Jun 2018 (Atlanta): ASM Microbe
- 22-27 Jul 2018 (Bryant University, Smithfield, RI): Gordon Research Conference on Drug Resistance for Cancer, Infectious Disease and Agriculture
- [UPDATED LINK] 4-7 Sep 2018 ESCMID-ASM Conference (#3) on Drug Development for AMR (Lisbon, Portugal)
- 6-14 Oct 2018 International Course on Antibiotics and Resistance (ICARe, Les Pensières, Annecy, France)
