• BUGWORKS Research

  Participated · Series B · Feb 2022

  Bugworks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutic assets in anti-infectives and immuno-oncology using computational biology, pharmacology, structural biology, and medicinal chemistry. Its lead antibacterial asset, BWC0977, is in Phase 1 and is positioned as a potentially first novel truly broad-spectrum antibacterial in nearly five decades to address serious hospital and community infections and bacterial biothreats. Its Adenosine immuno-oncology asset is in the mid preclinical stage and targets multiple cancers, intended for standalone use or in combination with immune checkpoint therapies. Bugworks operates proprietary drug discovery platforms—GYROX for AMR and DARE for IO—and plans to continue investing in these platforms to identify new drugs for serious, underserved indications. The company’s antibacterial program is supported by CARB‑X. The recent financing will support its clinical and preclinical development programs and ongoing platform investments. Bugworks is a biotech innovator developing novel antibiotics to address antimicrobial resistance across hospital, community and biothreat indications. Its lead clinical candidate, BWC0977, is a broad‑spectrum antibiotic with a dual mode of action inhibiting DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and has oral step‑down potential. BWC0977 was scheduled to enter Phase 1 trials in Q2 2021 and has shown positive preclinical efficacy supporting use against serious hospital infections and biothreat pathogens. Bugworks has collaborated with USAMRIID and NIAID and received development funding from CARB‑X to support BWC0977. The company secured additional funding from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to support nonclinical biodefense studies, including in vivo efficacy testing against priority biothreat bacteria. The University of Florida will lead validation studies to measure potency of BWC0977 against ciprofloxacin‑resistant Bacillus anthracis. Bugworks Research is a global biopharma start-up focused on designing novel broad-spectrum antibiotics. Its lead programs include the GYROX series intravenous candidate and an oral lead, both built on a dual-target gyrase-topoisomerase inhibitor mechanism. The company plans to complete Phase 1 studies for the GYROX IV candidate and advance the oral lead toward clinical development using proceeds from the recent financing. The lead agent has been supported by CARB-X since 2017 and targets critical bacterial infections implicated in serious hospital, community and biothreat indications. Bugworks has raised $19M to date, including the newly closed $7.5M round led by UTEC and Global Brain, with participation from Acquipharma and existing investor 3one4 Capital. Investors highlighted the company’s scientific rigor, preclinical data and business development progress in backing the financing. Bugworks Research is a biopharma startup based in Bangalore, India and Delaware, USA that designs first-in-class antibiotics. The company is advancing a novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitor (NBTI), a dual-target small-molecule designed to be effective against a broad spectrum of multi-drug resistant bacterial pathogens. The NBTI was designed using ELUDE, Bugworks’ proprietary efflux-pump avoidance platform, which the company says enables the design of novel, differentiated antibiotics for hospital, community and bio-threat infections. Bugworks states the NBTI has very low potential to create resistant strains and is active against pathogens on the WHO Critical, High and Medium priority lists as well as CDC bio-threat bacterial pathogens. The company is led by CEO Dr. Anand Anandkumar. Financially, Bugworks completed a $9M Series A financing in August 2018.

No current team members are available.