Accelerating Antibiotics: Kevin Outterson and Joe Larsen on CARB-X

CARB-X Executive Director Kevin Outterson and BARDA Acting Deputy Director Joe Larsen describe the work of the accelerator, which announced the first eleven projects in its Powered by CARB-X portfolio March 30. The Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or CARB-X, announced the first eleven projects in its Powered by CARB-X portfolio March 30. Details on each of the initial projects are here: http://www.carb-x.org/portfolio; they include three projects on new classes of antibiotics and four projects on non-traditional products, such as immunotherapy or antibody-drug candidates. We talked to Executive Director Kevin Outterson narrowing down applicants from the wide interest and upcoming additions to the portfolio. Then BARDA Deputy Director Joe Larsen discussed the beginning of CARB-X, how it fits with other work by BARDA and how the accelerator could also make private investment attractive again in this space. Both emphasized the continued need for pull incentives, such as wildcard patent exclusivity or market entry rewards.