GERMANY – Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading research-driven biopharmaceutical company, the life science company Evotec SE and bioMérieux have formed a joint venture, Aurobac, to create the next generation of antimicrobials along with actionable diagnostics to fight Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
Boehringer Ingelheim is pumping 30 million euros (US$31 million) into the fight against drug-resistant bacteria, while Evotec and bioMérieux adds €5 million (US$5.1 million) each.
Working with Evotec and bioMérieux, the German drugmaker has set up Aurobac Therapeutics, a biotech that will take a precision medicine approach to diagnosing and treating infections.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is threatening to undo decades of healthcare progress, with one forecast suggesting it could cause 10 million deaths a year by 2050.
At the urging of the WHO, a handful of heavyweight pharma players including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer and GSK pooled together the AMR Action Fund.
In response, Boehringer has taken a series of steps, investing 50 million euros (US$50.9 million) in an AMR fund and committing a further 12 million euros (US$12.2 million) to companies fighting drug-resistant microorganisms through its venture fund.
Aurobac opens another front in Boehringer’s response. With Evotec and bioMérieux each committing 5 million euros, the startup begins life with 40 million euros (US$40.7 million) and the support of founding organizations with expertise spanning the drug and diagnostic development processes.
Aurobac will work out of Lyon, France, where Evotec has an infectious disease research center created through its 2018 deal with Sanofi.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is threatening to undo decades of healthcare progress, with one forecast suggesting it could cause 10 million deaths a year by 2050.
With Boehringer bringing drug discovery and clinical trial capabilities and bioMérieux supporting diagnostics, Aurobac is designed to have the expertise needed to move past the era of broad-spectrum antibiotics.
The startup’s goal is to pair “new highly effective and targeted modalities” with “rapid and actionable diagnostics to quickly identify pathogens and their resistance patterns.”
Aurobac acknowledges it will also need the support of “new economic models,” reflecting the business challenges that have dogged the few companies that have brought antibiotics to market in recent years.
Global public health advocates have long warned about the looming threat of “superbugs” that are resistant to all available antibiotics, which can create a dire world where even routine surgical procedures could be life-threatening.
Per an estimate, antimicrobial resistance could account for as many as 10 million deaths per year by 2050, “making it potentially deadlier than cancer,” said Michel Pairet, head of Boehringer Ingelheim’s innovation unit.
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