Funding to advance antimicrobial therapy for drug-resistant pneumonia
pharmafile | July 1, 2026 | News story | | Telum Therapeutics, pneumonia
Telum Therapeutics has raised €18m in Series A financing to advance its lead antimicrobial programme into phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia (HABP) and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (VABP).
The financing round was led by the AMR Action Fund, with participation from Inveready and existing investors including Invivo Partners, CDTI-Innvierte, Clave Capital and Sodena.
The company’s lead candidate targets Acinetobacter baumannii, a multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterium associated with severe hospital-acquired infections and high mortality rates. Treatment options remain limited because many strains have become resistant to existing antibiotics.
Developed using Telum’s proprietary APEX platform, the investigational therapy is a protein-based antimicrobial designed to overcome limitations of conventional antibiotics and provide a new option for patients with life-threatening infections.
Henry Skinner, CEO of the AMR Action Fund, said: “Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most formidable bacterial threats in modern medicine… We are encouraged by Telum’s novel approach and pleased to support the team as they work to bring forward a new treatment option for patients with life-threatening infections.”
The investment will support completion of phase 1 studies and generate safety data needed for later-stage clinical development.
Subhendu Basu, CEO of Telum Therapeutics, said the financing would enable the company to complete that stage of its lead programme while advancing a broader pipeline targeting both Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognised as one of the world’s leading public health threats, contributing to growing numbers of infections that no longer respond to standard antibiotic treatments.
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