Phare Bio

Phare Bio is an ambitious social venture using novel AI and deep learning approaches to antimicrobial development in collaboration with Professor Jim Collins at MIT, a founder of the field of synthetic biology. Phare is a recipient of the Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative between TED and other non-profits to unlock social impact on a grand scale.

The rapid evolution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a dwindling discovery pipeline have resulted in an antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis. Today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, someone in the U.S. acquires a resistant infection every 11 seconds; every 15 minutes someone dies as a result of one. Covid-19 has only highlighted the urgency with approximately 15% of hospitalized patients suffering from bacterial co-infections. There is a critical need for new antibiotics, and yet, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have largely abandoned the space in favor of more lucrative markets.

Phare Bio launched in 2020 to tackle this critical unmet need with the latest advances in machine learning to develop entirely novel antibiotics. Integrating world-class expertise and decades of experience in artificial intelligence (AI), bioengineering, and life sciences, Phare is targeting the world's most deadly pathogens, such as Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas, with the goal of developing seven novel classes of antibiotics in seven years.