Call closed: Novel Antibacterial Compounds and Therapies Antagonizing Resistance (NACTAR)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major threats to human health in the 21st century, with some bacterial pathogens acquiring resistance to all clinically available antibiotics. Worldwide, infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacteria are now a major cause of morbidity and mortality, and have markedly increased healthcare costs. Consequently, the aim of this program is to discover, develop and exploit new resources for antibiotics and alternatives to antibiotics and to provide a trajectory for their clinical development. The NACTAR program connects to the National Antibiotic Development Platform (NADP), which was established by NCOH, CARES, CeSAM and Immuno Valley with support of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) with the aim of supporting the development of drugs to counter AMR.

The aim of the NACTAR program is to deliver new bioactive compounds and alternatives to antibiotics aimed at curing human infectious diseases caused by MDR bacteria. This includes the use of microbial hosts and methodologies to synthesize new bioactive compounds and semi-synthetic variants, characterization of their antimicrobial activity and their efficacy in infectious disease animal models. We foresee many potential patent applications, and opportunities for small-to-medium enterprises to interact with academia. Project proposals should adhere to the full programme guidelines as defined in this document below.

In summary:
• Proposals should address (one of the) topics as described in ‘Objective of the Programme’,
• The application procedure consists of a pre-proposal and full proposal phase,
• The pre-proposal will be used only to assess whether the proposed research fits within (one of the) topics as described in ‘Objective of the Programme’,
• Scientists employed by Dutch (Technical) Universities and institutes eligible for funding by NWO can submit a proposal (see ‘Guide for applicants’),
• The maximum funding to be requested is 750,000 euro (inclusive of Dutch VAT),
• Proposals require the participation of at least 4 users, 50% of the users should be relevant industrial partners in view of the utilization,
• Requirements for co-funding (section ‘Specific requirements to the programme’, to be specified in full proposal): at least 15% of the total project budget (in cash and in kind), including an in cash entry fee per industrial project partner (5000 euro or 10.000 euro depending on company size),
• Before submission applicants choose the NWO Domain TTW IP-policy their project will adhere to (see Appendix 4 ‘IP arrangements’),
• Apart from the programme-specific guidelines defined in this document, the ‘General Conditions’ as published together with this call, will apply.

Call details:
Budget:  5.500.000
Only proposals that have taken part in the pre-proposal phase, will be accepted in the full proposal phase.

• Deadline pre-proposal 27 June 2017,14:00 hrs;
• Deadline full proposal 21 September 2017, 14:00 hrs;

We recommend all applicants to consult the full programme guidelines, including the guide for applicants, before considering the preparation of a (pre)proposal, and to contact the TTW office well ahead of the submission deadline with any questions.
URL: http://www.stw.nl/nl/content/novel-antibacterial-compounds-and-therapies-antagonizing-resistance-nactar