French Startup Secures €5 Million Funding in Search for New Antibiotics 

French biotechnology (BioTech) startup, Generare, has secured a €5 million seed round to accelerate its search for new antibiotics drug, according to TechCrunch. 

The French startup’s focus is to use natural compounds produced by microorganisms to repurpose them as potential treatments for human diseases, and this includes antibiotics and anticancer therapies. 

Generare’s search for antibiotics mission is inspired by historical drug discoveries, such as the discovery of the penicillin – originated from natural sources.  

Co-founder and Chief Science Officer Dr. Vincent Libis, highlights the potential of microbial genetics as a key area in the discovery of new antibiotics solution.  

“We are hunting for genetic recipes encoded by bacteria that lead to the production of novel chemical molecules,” he explains, in relation to how this involves sophisticated molecular biology technologies, including DNA sequencing and bioinformatics, to identify and manipulate these genetic codes. 

Can We Make New Antibiotics 

Generare uses a proprietary cloning and biosynthetic technique that fragments the genetic material of microorganisms into millions of pieces, and by doing so, it allows for rapid analysis that could speed up the identification of promising combinations, basically authorizing the biotech startup to explore genetic diversity.  

Since its start in October 2022, Generare has already identified over 1,000 “genetic recipes,” including more than 100 novel chemical molecules, some exhibiting antibiotic properties. 

 By screening these genetic fragments, Generare can categorize compounds, modernizing searches for promising candidates, and avoid redundancies with already untested molecules.  

“We can move from an unknown genetic recipe to a molecule in a test tube at orders of magnitude faster than previous methods,” Dr. Libis told TechCrunch. 

Primarily, Generare’s focus is on soil microorganisms – the home to a wealth of genetic diversity, with up to 1,000 bacterial species found in just one gram of soil – the interactions among these organisms have driven a form of chemical warfare for millions of years. 

This ancient struggle for survival has led to the evolution of unique chemical compounds that serve as defense mechanisms against threats like bacteria and fungi. 

These microbial “weapons” have developed over 400 million years, and Generare aims to tap into this reservoir and of bioactive molecules and finding new antibiotics for human benefit. 

 Libis notes about the search for new antibiotics, “We know that we’ve only discovered about 3% of all chemicals produced by microbes. The potential for finding valuable compounds is enormous.” 

Why should pharmaceutical companies continue to search for new antibiotics? 

As antibiotic resistance continues to escalate, the need for antibiotics new research and innovative solutions in drug discovery has never been more pressing. Generare is committed to developing novel antibiotics to combat this growing crisis. However, Libis cautions that the existing business model for new antibiotic development is weak. “Antibiotics are a broken market,” he explains, highlighting the challenges companies face in regaining R&D costs once drugs become widely available. 

The crisis of antibiotic resistance seems to be slowly escalating, and pharmaceutical companies are therefore obliged to continue their search for new antibiotics in order not to make current treatments powerless against common infections. As the World Health Organization warns, if there are no new antibiotic development, the world might well return to the era when even the slightest injuries or routine surgical interventions could be mortal. 

 Moreover, finding new antibiotics creates great market opportunities because novel treatments can meet urgent medical needs and be developed in response to growing public health efforts. The investments in the search for new antibiotics will not only fulfill serious health challenges but also stimulate innovation in drug development that may benefit not only patients but also healthcare systems. 

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