Projects
GNA NOW
A European collaboration aimed at delivering Gram-negative antibacterials with new modes of action to the clinical phase.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a global and serious threat to human health. Gram-negative bacteria are widely regarded as the culprit representing many of the gravest dangers. Indeed, there is a dearth of new agents able to address AMR in Gram-negative bacteria, especially compounds with novel modes of action. Finding and developing such compounds represents a huge scientific challenge, one that requires the collaboration of stakeholders bringing many different kinds of expertise.
11
partners throughout Europe
€ 22 M
funding from IMI, EFPIA
Established in 2019 under the umbrella of the IMI (now IHI) AMR Accelerator, the GNA NOW Consortium (Gram-Negative Antibacterials NOW) is a joint initiative of 11 partners from industry and academia, aimed at delivering Gram-negative antibacterials with new modes of action to the clinical phase. The Consortium is focused on progressing treatments for severe diarrhoea, targeting four enteric pathogens: Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella. The Consortium consists of GSK (Scientific Lead), BioAster, Erasmus MC, Fraunhofer, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inserm, Medical University of Vienna, North Bristol NHS Trust, University of Liverpool, University of Poitiers, and Lygature (Coordinator). You can read more about the program on the AMR Accelerator website.
Operational and scientific leadership
As a neutral party with no conflicting interests, Lygature ensures that the agreed pre-set objectives of the consortium are reached within the six-year project term. In the particular complex and dynamic setting of GNA NOW, with the multi-consortia AMR Accelerator structure, and the ambitious project goals, many of Lygature’s qualities are mobilized, including:
- Operational coordination. Lygature leverages the vast experiences of managing public-private partnerships, interactions with IHI and stakeholder engagement to provide structure and process guidance.
- Scientific leadership. As coordinator of the GNA NOW grant, Lygature is co-responsible for strategic decisions regarding resources, scientific output, and progress towards the clinic, including attrition and replacement programmes.
- Agreement support. Lygature provides support in translation of the project in clear contractual language and well-balanced rights and obligations of all partners. Lygature monitors the continued adequacy of the agreement and guides, if required, accession of additional programmes.
- Stakeholder engagement. With the aim of contributing significantly to preclinical antibacterial development in the widest sense, Lygature contributes with best practices and support for capacity and knowledge exchange, funder interactions, and public patient involvement.
GNA NOW contributes to Lygature’s mission of accelerating the development of new treatments with important medical needs and a high societal impact. Lygature provides extensive management capabilities, and expertise as a custodian of trust, to move this multi-stakeholder research project forward.
Lygature together with
Acknowledgement of support
This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 853979: ‘GNA NOW: Gram-Negative Antibacterials NOW’. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and is part of the AMR Accelerator.
Project updates
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GNA NOW kicks off its battle against antimicrobial resistance
In 2015, antibiotic-resistant bacteria were already estimated to be responsible for 670,000 infections and 33,110 attributable deaths in the EU and European Economic Area (EEA). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could kill up to ten million people every year by 2050. The development of new antibiotics is of great importance in the fight against AMR. Gram-negative bacteria, which GNA NOW focuses on, were at the top of a priority pathogens list published by the World Health Organization.
Collectively, the GNA NOW partnership will advance three programmes in parallel with the goal of bringing one through completion of Phase I studies and one reaching Investigational New Drug (IND) stage and/or up to two programmes reaching clinical development candidate stage by 2024.
GNA NOW is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint initiative between the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), in the form of a €12 million grant over the next six years.
Lygature plays a pivotal role in amalgamating the partnership, creating one coherent research consortium. As an independent enabler, Lygature focuses entirely on making the collaboration work for the benefit of all partners, ensuring valuable output for the development of new antimicrobial agents. Furthermore, Lygature provides governance in terms of program, finance, collaboration and communication support.
GNA NOW contributes to Lygature’s mission of accelerating the development of new medical solutions for patients. We are excited to be part of this important project working on new solutions against antimicrobial resistance.
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GNA NOW off to a great start in battling antimicrobial resistance
GNA NOW (Gram-Negative Antibiotic NOW) started on July 1st under the AMR Accelerator umbrella and the project kicked off with a meeting on July 4th in Utrecht, where project members met in person for the first time. The project, funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and industry partner Evotec’s in-kind contributions, aims to operate a consortium of experts, representing all the critical skills and experience required to progress new chemical entities for Gram-negative bacterial infections with the aim to produce two drug candidates and conduct one first-in-human study.
All eleven partners participating in GNA NOW were present at the kick-off meeting, some joining via video-link. An introduction game where participants had to pair profiles with the right names and faces allowed for some good conversations among the participants and insights in each other’s competence right away. It certainly also underlined that this consortium is composed of people burning for combatting antimicrobial resistance.