Deemed a critical priority by the World Health Organization (WHO) given its pressing health and socioeconomic implications, this year’s World Antimicrobial Awareness (AMR) Week – celebrated between 18 and 24 November – brings our focus on 2 EIC-funded projects which, through their novel solutions, have the potential to fill an important gap in ensuring earlier and correct antibacterial treatments for drug-resistant infections, including hospital-acquired ones.
The escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to global healthcare, especially due to multidrug-resistant bacteria increasingly responsible for infections, is further aggravated by economic barriers hindering the development of new antibacterial drugs.
This is why novel solutions as the ones developed by the France-based biopharmaceutical company, Antabio, and the Netherlands-based graphene technology startup, SoundCell, through the support and guidance offered by the European Innovation Council (EIC) and clinical partners, are more urgent than ever.
The solution suggested by the company Antabio: a new therapeutic approach
sbli-ant3310 - coordinated by Antabio: fighting drug-resistant infections through novel antibacterials
To address these critical challenges, the EIC-funded sbli-ant3310 project is pioneering a new therapeutic approach that combines meropenem, a widely used antibiotic, with ANT3310, an advanced serine-β-lactamase inhibitor. This innovative combination has already shown exceptional efficacy in preclinical studies against the three top-priority pathogens – designated by the WHO – responsible for severe hospital-acquired infections.
The next steps include three clinical trials, aiming for market approval by 2029. If successful and licensed to a pharmaceutical partner, ANT3310 could become a major solution against drug-resistant infections, potentially generating over €10 billion in sales by 2042.
Paving the way towards further clinical trials of its innovation
The company, with an impressive track record in attracting non-dilutive funding, including multi-million awards from the Wellcome Trust, CARB-X, ARPEGE and EIC Accelerator, has recently announced the successful completion of the first phase of the clinical study its MEM-ANT3310 for Severe Hospital Infections.
Results showed that ANT3310 was well-tolerated across all doses, with no serious side effects or abnormalities. These promising results pave the way for further clinical trials of the MEM-ANT3310 combination.
With reference to the company’s recent achievement, its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Marc Lemmonier, referred:
With a uniquely broad coverage, we believe MEM-ANT3310 will be very well positioned to meet the urgent medical needs in high-risk patients, especially when multidrug-resistant pathogens are suspected.
How SoundCell is facing the challenge of antimicrobial resistance
BE FAST - coordinated by SoundCell: rapid diagnosis of antimicrobial susceptibility to counter mis- and over- prescriptions
The challenge addressed by the EIC Transition BE FAST project focuses on the urgent need for rapid and accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Current AST methods can take anywhere from 24 hours to several days to determine which antibiotics are effective against a specific bacterial infection. This delay significantly impacts patient outcomes, especially in severe cases where timely and appropriate treatment is crucial.
The BE FAST project is tackling this challenge through its novel SoundCell technology, which, by leveraging a graphene-based biosensor, allows to determine which antibiotic works within just one hour, with the potential to significantly shorten hospital stays.
As Irek Roslon, Chief Executive Officer of SoundCell describes:
This results in more prudent use of antibiotics, which is essential in combatting antimicrobial resistance. On top of that, patients receive effective antibiotics sooner, which can even mean the difference between life and death in acute infections like sepsis.
© SoundCell Official Website
Philips Innovation Award celebrates the SoundCell technology
After being selected one of the eight finalists of the prestigious Philips Innovation Award, the Netherlands-based startup announced it delivered a winning pitch in the finals of 11 June. The contest, which featured two categories – the Innovator Award, with a grand prize of €50,000 for mature startups, and the Rough Diamond League, awarding €10,000 to early-stage ventures – included notable business leaders such as Philips CEO Roy Jakobs in its jury, who evaluated each pitch on innovation, scalability, and impact.
When asked about the BE FAST project’s recent challenges and achievements, its CEO, Irek Roslon, highlights:
The project is challenging in that it integrates such a variety of advanced technologies, including chip fabrication, microfluidics, laser optics, and advanced signal processing. We are proud that in just one year we set up pilot production of our assays and have multiple devices ready to be placed with partner hospitals to perform clinical validation and benchmarking studies.
With expected improvements in patient outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and strong market potential, the project envisions significant impact and growth, including generating €17 million in revenue and creating up to 60 jobs by 2030.
Additional information
sbli-ant3310 is a project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the EIC Accelerator scheme. The project is managed by Antabio, a private biopharmaceutical company developing antibacterial resistance-breakers in areas of highest medical need.
Find more information about the project sbli-ant3310 on CORDIS.
BE FAST is a project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the EIC Transition scheme. It supports both the maturation and validation of novel technologies from the lab to the relevant application environments. The project is managed by SoundCell B.V. whose mission is working on improve infectious disease outcomes for patients.
Find more information about the project BE FAST on CORDIS.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.