Centauri Therapeutics Secures Additional $5.1M from CARB-X to Propel Lead Antibacterial Candidate ABX-01 Into First-in-Human Trials
Centauri Therapeutics Limited, an innovative immunotherapy company leveraging a novel platform for combating infectious diseases, announced today it has been awarded an additional $5.1 million in non-dilutive funding from CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator). This new tranche of support will accelerate the development of the company’s lead compound within the ABX-01 program toward its first-in-human clinical trial.
The new investment brings the total funding received by Centauri from CARB-X to $12.3 million since the initial collaboration began in 2019. This sustained financial and scientific support from CARB-X has allowed Centauri to advance from early-stage discovery through preclinical development, culminating in the selection of its first clinical candidate in March 2025.
The ABX-01 program is based on Centauri Therapeutics’s proprietary Alphamer® platform, a unique modality designed to harness the body’s innate immune system and redirect it to target specific pathogens. The Alphamer technology functions through a dual mechanism of action that combines traditional antimicrobial activity with immune-mediated clearance of pathogens—offering a novel approach in a field plagued by rising resistance to conventional antibiotics.
A Novel Approach to Addressing the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis
The ABX-01 candidate, which has been carefully selected for its broad-spectrum capabilities, is specifically engineered to treat Gram-negative bacterial infections in the lung, a therapeutic area representing one of the most serious challenges in hospital and critical care settings. These infections, frequently caused by multidrug-resistant strains such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii, are particularly dangerous to immunocompromised or critically ill patients, for whom existing antibiotics may be ineffective or contraindicated.
The ABX-01 molecule features two synergistic properties:
- Immunotherapeutic Function: It initiates and enhances the body’s immune response to infection by engaging complement fixation and stimulating phagocytosis—a strategy typically not deployed by standard antibiotics.
- Direct Antimicrobial Action: Simultaneously, it possesses inherent bactericidal properties capable of neutralizing the pathogen.
This dual-action model creates a potent antimicrobial weapon designed to clear pathogens more effectively and limit the risk of resistance development—potentially representing a paradigm shift in how bacterial infections are treated, particularly in the context of escalating global antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
CARB-X: A Crucial Partner in Antibiotic Innovation
CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership launched in 2016, is dedicated to accelerating early development of new antibacterial products, including antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics, aimed at treating drug-resistant bacterial infections. Centauri Therapeutics’s collaboration with CARB-X underscores the organization’s commitment to funding high-risk, high-reward solutions with the potential to address the growing global AMR crisis.
Dr. Jennifer Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of Centauri Therapeutics, emphasized the significance of CARB-X’s continued backing:
“The unwavering scientific and financial support from CARB-X has provided stability to Centauri as a company, expanded understanding of our Alphamer platform, and enabled us to progress the ABX-01 programme from discovery, through early development, and is now providing a smooth and continuous path towards First-in-Human clinical studies,” she stated. “We are thankful for CARB-X and their continued engagement and confidence, which has allowed us to move a step closer to delivering a much-needed therapeutic for serious, drug-resistant Gram-negative infections, even in the most clinically vulnerable patients.”
CARB-X’s support of Centauri Therapeutics is part of a broader effort to de-risk the development of innovative therapeutics that may otherwise struggle to find traditional sources of funding due to the lengthy timelines and high costs associated with antimicrobial development.
Dr. Erin Duffy, Chief of Research and Development at CARB-X, highlighted the strategic value of the partnership:
“We have been proud to support Centauri Therapeutics, beginning with answering key questions on the approach and continuing with the drug discovery that has led to the lead asset of ABX-01 and its progression towards building a dossier to support its advancement into first-in-human clinical trials,” she said.
A Public-Private Alliance Driving Global Health Innovation
The funding from CARB-X is sourced from a diverse set of international stakeholders, reflecting the global scale of the AMR crisis and the cross-border cooperation required to address it. This latest investment in Centauri’s ABX-01 program is made possible in part through:
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) via the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR)
- Wellcome, a UK-based philanthropic foundation focused on global health
- Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
These organizations jointly represent a coalition of funders committed to supporting early-stage antibacterial innovation, while also ensuring equitable global access and future pandemic preparedness.
Next Steps: Toward First-in-Human Studies
The latest funding injection will support Centauri Therapeutics in finalizing its Investigational New Drug (IND) application and completing the remaining preclinical requirements necessary to initiate first-in-human clinical trials. This transition into human testing marks a major milestone not only for the company, but also for the Alphamer platform, which has the potential to extend beyond infectious diseases into oncology, immunology, and other therapeutic areas.
Centauri’s lead candidate in the ABX-01 program is particularly promising because it does not rely solely on bactericidal action. Instead, by combining immune modulation and antimicrobial effects, it reduces the selective pressure often responsible for the emergence of resistant bacterial strains. If successful in clinical trials, ABX-01 could become a transformative therapy for treating life-threatening lung infections caused by Gram-negative bacteria—many of which are now listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as critical priority pathogens.
Reinventing the Future of Antibacterial Therapeutics
As the global health community continues to warn of a “silent pandemic” driven by antimicrobial resistance, the need for new treatment modalities has never been more urgent. Traditional antibiotic pipelines have diminished over the years, largely due to unfavorable commercial incentives and complex regulatory requirements. Yet, companies like Centauri are demonstrating that innovation in this space is not only possible but urgently necessary.
With its Alphamer platform, Centauri is positioned at the frontier of a new generation of antibacterial therapies—ones that reimagine the interplay between host immunity and pathogen clearance. The continued investment from CARB-X and its funders signals strong institutional confidence in this approach and its potential to deliver life-saving outcomes for patients at highest risk.
As Centauri advances into human clinical studies, the biotech industry and broader public health community will be watching closely—not only for the success of ABX-01, but for what it might mean for the future of antimicrobial treatment in an age of escalating resistance.
