The Noor and Nord Antibiotic Resistance Fund supports three biotech companies

and Nord-controlled Maintenance Impact Fund has disclosed its investment in three antibiotic-resistant start-ups. The investment will invest $16 million (14 million euros) of the fund's $165 million budget in startups to support research on antibiotics and preventive vaccines.Novo, Novo, Novo's holding company, created an impact fund about 12 months ago to help biotech companies absorb antimicrobial drugs and vaccines through discovery and early development. Life Sciences Investment Group has provided the fund with a total budget of $165 million over the next three to five years and has outlined 20 projects in the United States and Europe.The fund announced its first investment, a stake of SFr6.8m in June, in September, but has remained calm for the rest of 2018. NOW, REPAIR has announced three other investments it made in the final months of the year.Two of these investments involved European biotechnology companies. Danish start-up Minervax, an existing part of noro and NORD's seed portfolio, received 3.6 million euros from the REPAIR Fund to support its research into the protection of infants from the B streptococcus vaccine, a type B bacteria that causes about half of life-threatening infections in newborns. Vaccines are used in clinics.REPAIR has also pledged 1.5 million euros to Procarta Biosystems, a British biotech company that is developing antimicrobial drugs based on oligonucleotides. Procarta's oligonucleotides are designed to bind to transcription factors to block the expression of genes necessary for bacterial survival and pathogenicity. The startup treats complex urinary tract and abdominal infections before clinical trials.The third and largest investment involved Entasis Therapeutics of Massachusetts. Last year, REPAIR invested $10 million in the biotech company's $75 million NASDAQ IPO, helping it raise the funds needed to treat multiple drug-resistant Bacillus infections through a phase III trial.While Entasis investments involve late-stage planning, the other two deals illustrate what REPAIR believes is most in need of capital.“ We support companies that can change the future of antibiotic resistance. Despite the growing awareness of this global threat, there is an early funding gap for new treatments, particularly from lead optimization to Phase 1 data," REPAIR Director Aleks Engel said in a statement.Mr Engel said REPAIR had reviewed more than 100 "high-quality proposals" last year. This process led to three newly announced investments, as well as previous deals with Polyphor, and left the fund with a range of opportunities to launch this year.To help with this process, the REPAIR Fund has appointed antibiotic research and development specialist John Rex (formerly AstraZene cum) as chairman of its Scientific Choices Committee. The board helps the fund decide which companies to support. (China Pharmaceutical 123 Network)