Novo Holdings announced the launch of a $165 million fund to develop treatments that have the potential to counter superbugs — bacteria, viruses and parasites that are increasingly becoming resistant to existing antibiotics.
The Repair fund plans to invest $20 million to $40 million in about 20 projects over the next three to five years in Europe and the U.S., focusing on 12 families of bacteria that "pose the greatest threat to human health" according to the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 700,000 people die every year due to disease-causing microorganisms that are resistant to modern medicines, the Danish company said.
"Antimicrobial resistance is projected to kill more people than cancer does by 2050, which would reduce global economic output by between 2% and 3.5% and severely cripple modern medical and surgical advances," Novo Nordisk added.
Novo Holdings holds ownership in Novo Nordisk A/S and enzymes specialist Novozymes A/S. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is commissioning the fund.
A report published earlier this year by the nonprofit Access to Medicine Foundation found that GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Johnson & Johnson were leading efforts of large pharmaceutical companies to counter rising bacterial resistance to antibiotics
The WHO has called for new antibiotic development and restriction of their current use among livestock, and development efforts have been launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and several countries.
There are 28 antibiotics in late-stage trials that target the pathogens identified as high priority by the WHO and the CDC, the foundation noted, adding that only two have attached plans to assure that they are accessible if they make it to market. Many are being developed by small biotech companies as some large drugmakers have left the space.
The ATM Foundation also said Pfizer Inc. ranked well on stewardship, or coordinating oversight of antibiotic usage, while Sanofi has made strong efforts in research and development and Novartis did well on both fronts.
