Glox Therapeutics, a precision medicine innovator spun out from the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford, has secured £1 million in grant funding from the Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy (PACE) programme.
This funding will accelerate the development of novel antibiotics targeting drug-resistant bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, while expanding the company’s team and collaborations across Glasgow and Oxford.
Founded in 2023, the company is built out of over 20 years of research at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford from globally recognised expertise in elucidating bacteriocin structure and function to treat bacterial infections.
It is uniquely positioned to address the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) public health crisis which is predicted to surpass 10 million deaths globally per year at a cost of $100 trillion dollars by 2050.
Glox is developing a pipeline of engineered precision bacteriocins targeting pathogens that cause serious infections associated with high levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and mortality.
These novel precision antibiotics have potent narrow-spectrum activity to target Gram-negative AMR pathogens without collateral damage to the wider human microbiome.
Dr James Clark, CEO and Co-founder, Glox Therapeutics, said:
“We are grateful to PACE for their support and recognising the groundbreaking potential of our unique technology.
“Glox Therapeutics is one of only a handful of companies to have been selected for PACE funding so far which is a true testament to the expertise of our world-leading team.
“AMR poses a significant threat to human health globally and this grant will enable us to expand our team and progress the development of our innovative engineered bacteriocins to help combat two of the most life-threatening pathogens.”
PACE was founded in 2023 by LifeArc, Medicines Discovery Catapult, and Innovate UK with a £30 million programme of funding and support to be deployed over five years. It seeks to fund and support global AMR innovators with the best science.
Dr Beverley Isherwood, Programme Director, PACE, said:
“We are delighted to welcome Glox Therapeutics into the first cohort of PACE-funded projects with their novel platform to develop precision antibiotics.
“Using a collaborative approach, PACE will support Glox Therapeutics to generate the essential data packages needed to position the project for onward funding, investment and development.”
Kerry Sharp, Director of Entrepreneurship and Investment, Scottish Enterprise, and Investor, Glox Therapeutics, said:
“This latest PACE funding for Glox Therapeutics is a massive boost to the business who are operating in such a critical development area.
“At Scottish Enterprise, one of our aims is to double the number of scaling businesses, which will lead to more high value jobs supporting the transformation of the Scottish economy.
“This is why we’re collaborating closely with our partners, like Innovate UK, to make it easier for ambitious high growth businesses in Scotland to access the innovation support needed to grow and scale.”