Here are four things to know.
1. In its first round of funding, the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or Carb-X, will provide $24 million to 11 biotechs working on new antibiotics or diagnostic tools. The accelerator will provide an additional $24 million in payments over the next three years.
2. Three of the projects focus on new classes of antibiotics, while another four are investigating new methods to target and kill bacteria, according to the report.
3. Britain’s Wellcome Trust global health charity will provide 125 million pounds ($155.5 million) to the research projects over the next five years.
4. Public health experts have long warned about the growing threat of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and the limited development of new therapies to treat them, according to the report.
“By accelerating promising research, it is our hope that we can speed up the delivery of new effective antibacterials, vaccines, devices and rapid diagnostics to patients who need them,” Kevin Outterson, CARB-X’s executive director and a law professor at Boston University, told Reuters.
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