REPAIR Impact Fund: 35 strong proposals from North America and Working to Fight AMR

Ten days ago, we closed the window for proposals to the REPAIR Impact Fund for this year’s U.S./Canadian investment round. Today, we are pleased to announce that we received 35 high quality proposals attacking antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The number of proposals is lower than the 51 companies that submitted during last year’s U.S./Canadian round, where several companies sent multiple proposals. Only 12 of the 35 proposals are repeats from last year. This is consistent with what we saw in Europe earlier this year, but the outcome is nevertheless a very robust crop.

For our process, new data is a condition to re-submit for companies that submitted last year. Thus, we cannot rule out the possibility that companies that did not re-submit a proposal this year may not have received further funding and as such have not produced any new data. This could be another indication of the distressed financial state of the anti-infectives space.

We are very pleased with the 35 proposals. From the perspective of the humanitarian crisis that antimicrobial resistance represents, they show the grit and resilience of scientific progress even if the commercial environment remains incredibly difficult. We are seeking the highest level of innovation including novel approaches, modalities, chemistries, and biology, but we may end up with a portfolio of slightly more than half small molecules; strictly based on a “best data wins” philosophy and also in line with proposal submission numbers.

Looking at the bigger AMR picture, the situation has continued to deteriorate and many publicly traded AMR companies’ cash reserves will dry out in less than 12 months. A further bloodbath in this space will be a major setback to the necessary flow of novel antibiotics towards the market. Here is a picture of share prices since we started REPAIR.

The private markets are doing the same thing. These drops of 60% and 70% over just a couple of years are truly disastrous.

A comparison to oncology ...

Considering the above economic development, we have decided to sponsor Working to Fight AMR in the U.S. and are hoping for legislative change on reimbursement. If you are based in the U.S., please use the above link and spend 3 minutes to write to your congressional representatives now. Even more powerful is if you use the site to make a 30-second video. International video submissions are also highly appreciated. You can do it from your phone or laptop right now.