On Monday 7 October, the European Commission, through its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) and the European Investment Bank, signed a €20 million agreement with the French biopharmaceutical company Fabentech to help it develop broad-spectrum therapeutics to combat biological threats to public health.
HERA’s threat analysis demonstrated the importance of developing Fabentech’s technology platform which relies on the production of broad-spectrum polyclonal antibody fragments that recognise and neutralise pathogens and toxins in the human body. Thanks to its integrated research and development (R&D) and bioproduction capabilities, Fabentech aims to rapidly develop and produce new immunotherapies, contributing to a more effective response in public health emergencies.
Today’s agreement is the first of its kind to be concluded under HERA Invest (https://aeur.eu/f/dr0 ). More investments are in the pipeline with other European companies. They will stimulate innovation to respond to priority health threats, such as pathogens with high pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats and antibiotic resistance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)