CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EnBiotix, Inc., a product-focused bioengineering company transforming and revitalizing existing antibiotic classes to combat the global rise of drug-resistant and drug-tolerant bacterial infections, today announced the completion of a Series A financing. Investors in the round included Wired Holdings Investment Corp. (“WHIC”) and Apeiron Holdings Limited (“AHL”). In conjunction with the transaction, WHIC and EnBiotix, Inc. have entered into an agreement to establish a new joint venture company in Brazil, EnBiotix (Brasil) Ltda. (“EBL”), for the purposes of developing and commercializing EnBiotix’s product portfolio throughout Latin America. Roberto Guttman, Founder and CEO of Wired Holdings, has joined the EnBiotix Board of Directors.
“EnBiotix has a unique suite of product candidates arising from an innovative combination of synthetic and systems biology approaches to eradicate bacterial infections,” said Roberto Guttman. “These candidates address significant and growing needs globally, and EBL will be uniquely positioned to facilitate their development in Latin America. I’m thrilled to join the EnBiotix Board of Directors and look forward to collaborating with the team.”
Under the terms of the agreement, WHIC will provide strategic, regulatory and commercial assistance to EnBiotix in establishing and implementing EBL. EnBiotix, Inc. will continue to retain all rights to the compounds outside of Latin America and responsibility for continuing development of all products. EBL will initially focus on the products EBX-001 for P. aeuriginosa infections in cystic fibrosis (CF), non-CF bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients; EBX-002 for catheter-associated urinary tract infections; and EPP-001 which addresses prosthetic joint infections. Additional product candidates may be considered at a later date. EBL will pursue product registrations and commercialization in Latin America of all products arising from the EnBiotix portfolio for an initial term, with term extensions available as agreed upon between the parties. Additional terms of the financing and EBL agreement remain confidential between the parties.
“Our partnership with Wired Holdings is an important milestone in the advancement of EnBiotix’s global product development and commercial strategy,” said Jeffrey D. Wager, M.D., Chairman and CEO, EnBiotix. “With some of the most rapidly developing healthcare delivery systems in the world, the Latin American pharmaceutical market currently generates approximately $90 billion in revenues and is growing at between 10 to 15 percent annually. The patient and market access that the collaboration of EBL with Wired Holdings enables will allow us to tap into these resources and continue to finance and grow EnBiotix into a key market leader in this region.”
About EBX-001
EBX-001 combines tobramycin with a metabolite
potentiator as a novel, inhaled investigational treatment for P.
aeruginosa infections in cystic fibrosis (CF), non-CF bronchiectasis
and COPD patients. As the only therapeutic candidate specifically
targeting the eradication of bacterial persisters, EBX-001 has unique
potential to treat these persistent infections and reduce morbidity,
mortality and the treatment burden to patients, their families and
health care delivery systems. With approximately 70,000 CF, over 200,000
non-CFBE and millions of COPD patients potentially eligible for EBX-001
therapy worldwide, EBX-001 has multibillion dollar market potential.
About EBX-002
EBX-002 is a proprietary aminoglycoside +
potentiator IV Piggyback in development for gram-negative
catheter-associated urinary tract infections (caUTIs) in the hospital
setting. There are 450,000 caUTIs per year in the US (and over 1 million
globally), representing a treatable market potential of nearly $1
billion. FDA familiarity with the candidate aminoglycoside and the
potentiator could allow for an abbreviated clinical development path,
which may bring EBX-002 to the market within 4 years.
About EPP-001
EPP-001 is an engineered bacteriophage using
customized phages coding for biofilm-degrading enzyme payloads. EPP-001
will be initially developed in combination with standard antibiotic
therapy for the treatment of prosthetic joint infections (PJIs), since
attempts to eradicate PJIs with antibiotics alone fail up to 70% of the
time. The current standard of care to treat PJI “salvage therapy
failures” is a costly two-step surgical process involving prosthetic
joint removal, debridement and replacement with a new joint. PJI
incidence is growing dramatically with an aging population requiring hip
and knee replacements; by 2020 almost 2 million patients per year will
receive a hip or knee replacement with some 2-3% developing these
severely debilitating infections.
About EnBiotix
EnBiotix is an engineered antibiotics company
deploying novel systems and synthetic biology technologies developed by
Prof. James J. Collins, the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering &
Science Professor, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. These technologies enable the development of
both novel antibiotics and potentiators of existing antibiotics which
have the potential to transform their spectrum of activity and
resistance profile. With drug-resistant and drug-tolerant infections
rapidly becoming a global health crisis, EnBiotix’s robust product
pipeline addresses a wide range of acute and chronic infections to
significantly impact the lives of patients. For more information, please
visit www.enbiotix.com.
About Wired Holdings Investment Corp.
Wired Holdings is a
family investment office founded to pursue healthcare investment and
growth opportunities throughout Latin America and abroad. In addition to
its partnership with EnBiotix, other portfolio companies include Grupo
Biotoscana, Medecell, R9c Ltd. and Sterifarma Ltd.
About Apeiron Holdings Limited
Apeiron Holdings Limited is a
private investment office founded to leverage investment opportunities
of its affiliate Apeiron Partners LLC (www.apeironpartners.com).
