BARDA backs Atox drug to combat zombie-like bacteria

Israeli firm Atox Bio has won a contract potentially worth $23.9m from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance the development of the company's AB103, an investigational drug aimed at combating zombie-like “flesh-eating” bacteria and potential biothreats.

BARDA is hoping AB103, which modulates inflammatory response, will keep severe infections, like Streptococcus pyogenes, often called a flesh-eating bacteria, before they turn into a cytokine storm, in which cells over-react and create an