GSK given $200m to develop antibiotics
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has entered into a first-of-its-kind collaboration with GSK, whereby the HHS' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) provide GSK with up to $200 million for antibiotic R&D.
Tackling drug resistant bacterial infections is predicted to become a global crisis in the next 20 years, due to the scarcity of new antibiotics in pharma's pipeline and a decrease in R&D investments.
This new agreement provides GSK with the flexibility (and the funding) to focus on more than one drug candidate and allow medicines to be studied for the potential treatment of both conventional and biothreat pathogens.
Under the terms, HHS will provide $40 million for the initial 18-month agreement and up to a total of $200 million if the agreement is renewed over 5 years.
"There is an urgent need to address antibiotic resistance and new models are needed to deal with this challenging area of drug development. We strongly believe that innovative public-private partnerships such as this are integral to solving this critical healthcare issue and we are delighted to work with BARDA in a more strategic way."
David Payne, head of GSK's Antibacterial Discovery Performance Unit.
The work under this agreement will be governed by a BARDA-GSK joint oversight committee that will monitor progress, make decisions on the allocation of funds and decide on the addition or removal of drug candidates from the portfolio.
Related news:
U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for new antibiotics (Reuters)
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