Arsanis Biosciences won a grant from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Forschungs-Förderungs-Gesellschaft; FFG) toward development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics against hospital-acquired or nosocomial infections. Arsanis will receive €1.19 million ($1.64 million) during the first year of its four-year research program, with the company expecting additional funding over the next three years to bring the total to €8.75 million (just over $12 million)—reflecting up to 70% of the research program’s total budget of €12.5 million ($17.24 million).

The FFG grant will support discovery activities of several antibody projects and the preclinical and early clinical development of one lead program. Arsanis won funding in 2010 from a syndicate of U.S.-based venture firms OrbiMed Advisors, Polaris Venture Partners, and SV Life Sciences.

“Arsanis is building a broad portfolio of anti-infective antibodies, several of which target nosocomial bacterial infections,” states Eszter Nagy, M.D., Ph.D., Arsanis’ co-founder and CSO.