Healthy people suffer every year from atypical bacterial infections characterized by Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). It contributes to the death of five million people annually. It is often called the Silent Pandemic and is characterized as one of the most urgent world health threats. Yet nearly a third of people have never even heard of it.
When stay-at-home mom Katy Grainger got a small cut on her thumb, at first she wasn’t worried. A few days later when the wound began to ooze, Katy went to the doctor who confirmed the cut was infected and prescribed antibiotics. The treatment didn’t work and in a matter of days, Katy was fighting for her life. Without effective treatment, the minor infection spread to her blood, causing sepsis. Katy survived, but lost both legs and her fingertips.
Will Xavier had just finished eighth grade. He played basketball and baseball. He had a quick smile and magnetic energy and always loved to tell a joke. When he got an infection, his parents say the medical team at the children’s hospital “fought hard” to keep Will alive. Unfortunately, the antibiotic treatments did not work. Just days after becoming symptomatic, he was gone.
Mia, age 8, was healthy. She was described as the “happiest, brightest, most loving and caring girl who smiled, danced, and brought joy and love to everyone she met.” After seeing the doctor for a terrible sore throat, she was diagnosed with Strep A Infection, commonly known as strep throat, and sent home with antibiotics. Mia woke up the next morning with blue lips and a rash on her arms and legs. She was rushed to the hospital and given intravenous antibiotics, but she went into septic shock and died.
“AMR occurs when bacteria develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them or stop their growth.” In order to thwart evolving bacterial resistance, the development of new and improved drugs is critical.
Utah-based Cūrza Inc. (Cūrza), a biotechnology company stepped into this global challenge in 2013 and is emerging as a leader in the fight against AMR. The company is developing a “platform of distinctly unique compounds that attack the problem of AMR for some of the world’s worst antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

An Introduction to Cūrza
At the helm of Cūrza is University of Utah alum, CEO Chad Testa, PhD. He is passionate about the urgent need to counteract AMR, recognizing that the global health community is not prepared. This looming threat led Cūrza to focus on Gram-negative bacteria. These microbes are particularly difficult to treat due to their double cell walls, making them, unfortunately, notoriously resilient. To make matters worse, Testa lamented, “In over 50 years, there has not been a new class of antibiotic discovered to treat Gram-negative infections. That’s my lifetime. That’s in all of our lifetimes… it’s frightening.” This means that while bacteria have consistently evolved for half a century, the treatments used to fight the bacteria have not kept up. Testa puts it bluntly, “If there is a pandemic due to a bacterial infection, we’re screwed. There’s no getting around that. Unlike COVID, we won’t have antivirals that can be repurposed or vaccine templates ready to go.”
Adding further urgency, Nick Skene, a native Utahn and Cūrza’s VP of Finance, emphasized the heightened vulnerability of patients undergoing common medical procedures like surgery, chemotherapy, or ICU care. He explained, “A lot of these patients die not from the disease they were being treated for but from the bacterial infection that accompanies the disease.”
Beyond the medical threat, AMR presents a staggering financial burden. Testa stated that the Infectious Disease Society of America estimates that AMR “generates $4.6B in direct healthcare costs, up to $34B in hospital-related costs, and $35B in quality-of-life related economic losses.” In short, AMR is responsible for both massive financial cost along with a profound human toll. But amidst the challenge, Cūrza has found a promising and potentially transformative solution.
A New Class of Antibiotics
Cūrza, headquartered in Salt Lake City since its inception, is developing a fundamentally different kind of antibiotic. Rather than modifying existing drug classes that bacteria are increasingly resisting, their lead program innovates using an entirely new mechanism of action. Testa explained, “We’ve figured out how to exploit the bacterial peptide bond formation mechanism in a way that selectively targets bacteria, not humans. That’s something others haven’t been able to do.” This approach, inspired by a naturally occurring compound (amicetin) and refined through advanced medicinal chemistry, positions Cūrza to make a significant leap forward in treatment options. The company’s platform has huge potential. “We see our first drug not just as a treatment, but as a platform. Just like penicillin was the foundation of an entire drug class, we hope Cūrza’s drug will lead to future generations of novel drugs,” Testa explained.
Central to this progress is Cūrza’s tightly integrated team, which blends scientific rigor with startup agility. This collaborative culture has proven essential to the company’s ability to innovate. “Even though our team comes from a variety of backgrounds, we are united by our goals… we’re not siloed; we work together on every problem,” Skene said. Testa echoed the sentiment, adding, “We’ve built a team that’s creative, driven, and collaborative.” Their combined efforts are pushing science forward while catching the attention of the investment community.
Smarter Strategy for Antibiotic Investment
Cūrza’s financial and operational model is as strategic as its science. The company has carefully studied the failures of previous antibiotic developers—companies that achieved scientific and regulatory success but ultimately went bankrupt. Learning from those lessons, Cūrza has charted a different course.
Unlike many biotech startups, Cūrza does not intend to commercialize its drug in-house. Instead, the company aims to license the drug, a strategy designed to reduce risk and maximize capital efficiency. “We have no intent to bring this drug to market ourselves. We know we need the right pharma partner at the right milestone,” said Testa.This approach has enabled Cūrza to remain lean and focused while still advancing its lead program.
Much of Cūrza’s progress is due to substantial non-dilutive funding—support that doesn’t require giving up equity. “We’ve effectively de-risked as best as anyone can by leveraging non-dilutive funding to advance our programs,” Testa said. To date, Cūrza has raised nearly $40 million, with the majority coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), CARB-X, and other grant-based sources. The Cūrza team has been impressively and successfully proactive in securing funding. “For every investment dollar we’ve brought in, it has been matched approximately two and a half times in grants and contracts,” said Skene.
In a sector known for long timelines and high risk, Cūrza stands out as a company that is maximizing investor value while advancing critical science with global implications.
Part of Utah’s BioHive
Cūrza’s roots run deep in Utah’s life sciences ecosystem. The company originated from technology spun out of the University of Utah and was initially backed by local family office Clarke Capital.
Cūrza’s team includes scientists from around the world who have chosen Utah for its blend of opportunity, collaboration, and quality of life. Testa said of his own connection to Utah, “I came to Utah for grad school in 1997 with no intention of staying, but the people and the culture kept me here.” He added “We’ve built a diverse team from all over the world, but our culture of collaboration and mission unites us. That is very much a Utah thing.”
As a proud member of BioHive, Cūrza is both a contributor to and beneficiary of the state’s growing biotech infrastructure. “We are a small community, but we help each other out and rise together,” said Testa. Skene agreed, emphasizing the region’s rapid growth. “Utah is already night-and-day compared to five years ago. It’s growing fast as a biotech hub.”
From scientific discovery to strategic funding, Cūrza represents the best of what Utah biotech has to offer. It is an advancing biotech rooted in community, poised to make a global impact.