Bugworks Research Inc. (Bugworks), a Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) incubated start-up with Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) has announced a collaboration agreement to co-develop an innovative compound called BWC0977 that can serve as a broad spectrum antibiotic combating the multidrug resistant bacterial strains causing life threatening infections.
GARDP will provide up to U.S. $20 million in technical and financial support to Bugworks for pharmaceutical and clinical co-development of BWC0977 under the agreement. In exchange, Bugworks has given GARDP rights of manufacture and commercialization of BWC0977 in 146 countries, most of which are low-income or middle-income countries (LMICs).
BWC0977 is capable of inhibiting in vitro growth of a wide range of pathogens responsible for serious hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, sepsis, and complicated UTI.
Some examples include carbapenemase-producing Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae – Critical Priority Pathogens according to WHO. According to GRAM study alone these two pathogens have been associated with more than one-fifth of all deaths due to antimicrobial resistance in 2019. The study also indicates that greater than 80 % of A. baumannii clinical isolates were positive for carbapenemase enzymes in many countries globally.
“This is an important time for us to be putting resources into the development of this new BWC0977 drug together with Bugworks” said Manica Balasegaram, Executive Director at GARDP “Many candidates within the antibiotics pipeline lack either innovation or focus on priority pathogens; however, BWC0977 stands out as something novel that could address unmet public health needs.”
