CF AMR Syndicate announces first awardees of £3 million collaborative drug discovery programme

The Cystic Fibrosis Antimicrobial Resistance (CF AMR) Syndicate has today announced the first cohort of awardees of its Collaborative Discovery Programme (CDP) funding.

The £3 million programme, funded by LifeArc, will support six early-stage novel antimicrobial projects over two years to accelerate new treatments for lung infections in people with CF.

CF affects over 162,000 people globally. People with CF are affected by life-threatening lung infections that can permanently change lung function and reduce their quality of life. Growing resistance to antimicrobials and lack of effective treatments means that there continues to be an urgent need to identify new therapies.

The first three companies to be awarded a share of the CDP funding are:

• Bicycle Therapeutics: A clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing a novel class of medicines, referred to as Bicycle® molecules, for diseases that are underserved by existing therapeutics
• BioVersys: A multi-asset, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing and commercialising novel antibacterial products for serious life-threatening infections caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria
• Oxford Drug Design: An innovative biotechnology company using pioneering computational methods to discover and develop novel therapeutics that address a wide range of challenging diseases with high unmet medical need

The remaining project awardees will be announced in due course.

The CDP will advance a diverse pipeline of preclinical drug discovery projects, which have the needs of people with CF at the forefront. These projects align with the CF AMR Syndicate's Therapeutic Target Product Profiles for CF lung infections, which define characteristics that new antimicrobials would need to meet to fulfil the needs and priorities of people with CF.

The programme, delivered by the CF AMR Syndicate's managing partners (Medicines Discovery Catapult, LifeArc and Cystic Fibrosis Trust), offers a unique collaborative approach to drug discovery and development.

Research and development advisors from the CF AMR Syndicate will convene wider support for awardees, who will benefit from enabling resources to help advance their projects. These include a range of cross-sector experts from drug discovery, academia, and the clinic, as well as people with lived experience drawn from the CF AMR network.

This wraparound support and sector expertise will help ensure the best chances of success and attract follow-on investment.

Dr Beverley Isherwood, Strategy Leader – Infectious Diseases at Medicines Discovery Catapult, said: "We are delighted to be working with these innovative companies to accelerate vital research and find new treatments for people with CF. By supporting awardees through the early development phases to generate essential data packages, the CF AMR Syndicate's CDP will position these projects to attract onward funding and investment for further development."

Dr Catherine Kettleborough, LifeArc's Chronic Respiratory Infection Translational Challenge Lead, said: "This funding, along with the wraparound support provided by the CF AMR Syndicate, will help advance promising solutions to the urgent need for more effective treatments for CF lung infections. By harnessing the collective expertise of cross-sector partners, we aim to accelerate the discovery of novel therapies that could significantly improve the lives of people with cystic fibrosis.”

Dr Paula Sommer, Head of Research at Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said:

For people with CF, lung infections can cause breathlessness and difficulty breathing. They can also cause major disruptions to day-to-day life, meaning people can miss work or school. Lung infections are hard to treat due to antimicrobial resistance, which is why we’re delighted to see the CF AMR Syndicate support these projects that will develop new antimicrobial treatments for CF.

For more information on the CF AMR Syndicate's CDP, please visit https://cfamr.org.uk/collaborative-discovery-programme/awardees/.