BY JOHN CROPLEY, The Daily Gazette

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — A Schenectady biotech firm has received a $3 million grant to research a treatment for drug-resistant infections, and may get $6.2 million more if it demonstrates progress toward the goal.

Bravos BioSciences is receiving the money from CARB-X, a worldwide nonprofit partnership led by Boston University that is searching for a way to deal with the growing number of pathogens that can’t be killed with antibiotics.

Bravos is a new company that has the same ownership, leadership and quarters as the Institute for Clinical Pharmacodynamics, based on Broadway in downtown Schenectady for the last three years.

It’s looking for a way to use antibodies — germ killers created by the body’s immune system — rather than antibiotics to fight bacterial infections, in much the same way scientists have adapted antibodies to fight cancer cells.

ICPD President Paul Ambrose said the goal is to develop external antibodies that can be administered to patients like a drug to attack the pathogens that are making them ill.

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