In June 2022, the company announced the successful completion of its Phase 1 trial, as well as the first closing of an oversubscribed Series C round with CHF 24.2 million with existing and new investors. According to BioVersys founder and CEO Dr. Marc Gitzinger, the funds will be deployed to develop BioVersys’ two lead assets through clinical Phase 2 and advance a third asset toward clinical development.

BioVersys represents the first European-based investment of the AMR Action Fund. Carly Levine, Ph.D., of the AMR Action Fund will join BioVersys’ board of directors.

This investment further validates the attractiveness of the BioVersys pipeline of novel AMR therapeutic programs being developed. The AMR Action Fund investment will be used to support the clinical development of BV100, a potential breakthrough hospital antibiotic targeting the most drug-resistant bacterial pathogen, Acinetobacter baumannii. 

BV100 will soon be tested for the first time in a Phase 2 clinical trial, in patients with nosocomial pneumonia, including ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP), to assess the pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB), where mortality currently reaches 50%. 

“We are proud that BioVersys was selected as the first European-based investment of the AMR Action Fund,” said Dr. Marc Gitzinger. “This investment is timely as we transition two of our programs into clinical Phase 2. The AMR Action Fund, backed by leading pharmaceutical companies and a global network of scientific and industry experts, will be a valuable partner in our efforts to develop much-needed novel antibacterials for patients in need. We look forward to welcoming the AMR Action Fund to our knowledgeable long-term investor base, which has always been fully vested in helping to address the global AMR crisis and save lives.”

BioVersys’ Dr. Sergio Lociuro (CSO) and Dr. Marc Gitzinger (CEO). Gitzinger said in a statement to Venturelab: “Being the first European-based company in which the AMR Action Fund invests and only the third investment overall, means a fantastic validation to the work that the BioVersys team is doing. The AMR Action Fund is backed by leading pharmaceutical companies and is sector-specific, so it offers a great amount of expertise and visibility for the company. We are excited to take the next steps in bringing our medicines to patients in need.”

“The decision of the AMR Action Fund to invest in BioVersys is an independent institutional validation of the rich and diverse BioVersys pipeline which offers high-quality AMR drug candidates in clinical development and compelling investment value,” said Dr. Seng Chin Mah, Chairman of BioVersys. “The world-class team at BioVersys continues to strive tirelessly to deliver on their mandate of bringing lifesaving therapies to AMR patients who are increasingly facing a lack of treatment alternatives and to generate stakeholder value. The AMR field remains increasingly attractive to both strategic and impact investors who understand the crucial global relevance of new antimicrobials.”

BioVersys was awarded CHF 130,000 by Venture Kick, emerging as a winner of the program’s final stage in 2008. The startup also participated in the 2016 Venture Leaders China program and earned a spot among the TOP 100 Swiss Startups from 2011 to 2013.

BioVersys’ team

BioVersys AG is a privately owned Swiss pharmaceutical company focusing on research and development of small molecules acting on novel bacterial targets with applications in Anti-Microbial Resistance … Read more