CARB-X FUNDS FACILE THERAPEUTICS TO DEVELOP A NEW TREATMENT TO PREVENT RECURRING C. DIFFICILE BACTERIAL INFECTIONS

CARB-X is awarding Facile Therapeutics, based in Belmont, California, USA, up to $1.26 million to develop a new orally bioavailable drug to treat recurring infections caused by Clostridium difficile. Facile could receive up to $17 million more in additional funding from CARB-X if the project achieves certain development milestones, for a potential total of $18.26 million.

“C. difficile represents an urgent global health threat and CARB-X is funding and supporting innovative R&D projects, like Facile’s Ebselen project, to address this growing threat,” said Erin Duffy, Chief of Research and Development of CARB-X, a non-profit partnership based at Boston University School of Law, dedicated to supporting early development antibacterial research around the world. “This is a terrific example of an attempt to repurpose a compound for use in the infectious-disease arena.  If successful and ultimately approved for use in patients, Facile’s project could represent tremendous progress in the prevention of recurrent C. difficile infections, and save many lives.”