Nosopharm raises funds to accelerate development of NOSO-95179 molecule

French biotechnology company Nosopharm has raised €2.4m in funding with Auriga Partners, Kreaxi and Alto Invest to accelerate the regulatory preclinical development of its first antibiotic molecule, NOSO-95179.

The molecule targets Enterobacteriaceae, which is a priority pathogen according to the WHO.

The company expects to begin first-in-human studies in 2019.

Nosopharm president Philippe Villain-Guillot said: "Thanks to this, we now have the funds needed to finalise the preclinical programme for NOSO-95179 and launch additional R&D programmes for anti-infective drugs.

"We will submit IND or IMPD applications for NOSO-95179 in 2018, with a view to first-in-man studies in 2019. By the end of 2018 we will also submit new patent applications covering new therapeutic classes of anti-infectives."

Nosopharm also plans to launch other upstream research programmes in the field of infectious diseases using its new anti-infective biotechnology platform that is based on the medicinal mining of an original microbial bioresource.

Auriga Partners Auriga IV Bioseeds fund partner and manager Franck Lescure said: "The discovery platform for new families of anti-infective agents used by Nosopharm comes from a productive collaboration between the company and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA)."

NOSO-95179 was discovered consecutively to the lead optimisation of NOSO-95, the first molecule in the new class of Odilorhabdin antibiotics.

It inhibits bacterial translation with a new mode of action and its target indication is to treat polymyxin and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections.

The molecule shows clear in vitro antibacterial activity against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates, along with in vivo efficacy in different murine infection models.