Notes: Newsflash … BARDA have opened their long-running BAA-18-100-SOL-00003 to include support for antifungal agents. Search for “antifungal” in the posted .pdf to find the text. The first deadline for proposals is 15 Dec 2022 and further deadlines will doubtless follow: as shown on page 9, this BAA has offered 4 deadlines/year since 2018!
Dear All,
In honor of WAAW, here is a PASTEUR Act-themed collection of items for your perusal.
First, Pew have published a fun 5-question quiz that tests your knowledge of superbugs. They’ve also made some great graphics that may or may not help with the answer to question #3…
Second, Maryn McKenna’s latest piece in Wired entitled “The $6 Billion Shot at Making New Antibiotics—Before the Old Ones Fail” is an absolute must read. “If the Pasteur Act can’t get through by [Christmas Eve], it will need to be reintroduced when the new Congress convenes in January. But that session will be focused on the 2024 election, and it could be hard for other issues to break through.” There is a clear deadline if there ever was one. This isn’t to say PASTEUR would never pass if it had to be reintroduced but it would be significantly harder.
Finally, and tying it all together, now is time to tell Congress that you want them to pass the PASTEUR Act! With so many issues also vying for attention, the only way to make sure PASTEUR stays in the forefront is to keep talking about it. With that said, here is an easy form for emailing, calling or tweeting your representatives. I’ve also made a short video for you to share with anyone you think needs a crash course about PASTEUR!
~6 minute presentation on why AMR needs immediate government help and how the PASTEUR Act can be the difference we need.
All best wishes, –jr
John H. Rex, MD | Chief Medical Officer, F2G Ltd. | Operating Partner, Advent Life Sciences. Follow me on Twitter: @JohnRex_NewAbx. See past newsletters and subscribe for the future: https://amr.solutions/blog/. All opinions are my own.
Current funding opportunities (most current list is here)
- Current funding rounds from CARB-X are as described in this newsletter!
- The AMR Action Fund is now open to proposals for funding of Phase 2 / Phase 3 antibacterial therapeutics. Per its charter, the fund prioritizes investment in treatments that address a pathogen prioritized by the WHO, the CDC and/or other public health entities that: (i) are novel (e.g., absence of known cross-resistance, novel targets, new chemical classes, or new mechanisms of action); and/or (ii) have significant differentiated clinical utility (e.g., differentiated innovation that provides clinical value versus standard of care to prescribers and patients, such as safety/tolerability, oral formulation, different spectrum of activity); and (iii) reduce patient mortality. It is also expected that such agents would have the potential to strongly address the likely requirements for delinked Pull incentives such as the UK (NHS England) subscription pilot and the PASTEUR Act in the US. Submit queries to contact@amractionfund.com.
- BARDA’s long-running BAA-18-100-SOL-00003 offers support for both antibacterial and antifungal agents. This BAA has offered 4 deadlines/year since 2018 … check the most current amendment for details.
- INCATE (Incubator for Antibacterial Therapies in Europe) is an early-stage funding vehicle supporting innovation vs. drug-resistant bacterial infections. The fund provides advice, community, and non-dilutive funding (€10k in Stage I and up to €250k in Stage II) to support early-stage ventures in creating the evidence and building the team needed to get next-level funding. Details and contacts on their website (https://www.incate.net/).
- It’s not a funder, but AiCuris’ AiCubator offers incubator support to very early stage projects. Read more about it here.
- The Global AMR R&D Hub’s dynamic dashboard (link) summarizes the global clinical development pipeline, incentives for AMR R&D, and investors/investments in AMR R&D.
- In addition to the lists provided by the Global AMR R&D Hub, you might also be interested in my most current lists of R&D incentives (link) and priority pathogens (link).
Upcoming meetings of interest to the AMR community (most current list is here):
- 27-30 Nov 2022 (Perth, Australia): 32nd International Congress of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy is the biennial congress of the International Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (ISAC). Go here for details.
- [NEW] 2 Dec 2022 (Harvard, Boston, 9a-6p with reception to follow): BAARN, the Boston Area Antimicrobial Resistance Network. A full day of networking and lectures, including a keynote by Gerry Wright. Go here for details and here to register.
- 3-7 Dec 2022 (Banff, Canada): Novel Approaches Against Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance by Keystone Symposia. Go here for details.
- [NEW] 1-2 Feb 2023 (virtual): Antimicrobial Chemotherapy Conference by GARDP and BSAC in collaboration with ReAct Africa and Africa CDC. Go here for details.
- 14 Apr 2023 (Copenhagen, Denmark; 3-6.30p CEST): ECCMID and the Global Leaders Group on AMR will jointly sponsor a symposium entitled “Forging partnerships between science and policy in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).” Go here to register.
- 15-18 Apr 2023 (Copenhagen, Denmark): 33rd ECCMID. Go here for details and to register.
- 8-12 May 2023 (Lisbon, Portugal): 41st Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases. Go here for details.
- [NEW] 14-22 Oct 2023 (residential, Annecy, France): ICARe, the Interdisciplinary Course on Antibiotics and Resistance. Now in its 7th year, this course is a deep-dive into the world of antibiotic development. Intense, rigorous, and HIGHLY recommended. Seats are always limited … apply sooner rather than later! Go here for details.