Roche strikes $550 million antibiotics deal
pharmafile | November 4, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Antibiotics, Roche, WHO
Roche has finalised an agreement worth up to $550 million with fellow Swiss firm Polyphor to develop a new antibiotic for hospital infections.
The investigational treatment POL7080 is designed to fight Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ‘superbug’ bacterium responsible for 10% of infections acquired in US hospitals every year.
The deal marks a return to the antibiotics ring for Roche, which backed away from the area in the late 1990s.
Indeed, several big players have slashed their antibiotics R&D budgets in recent years, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lilly and Pfizer.
Roche’s sudden revival in interest may be down to growing numbers of drug-resistant bacteria and the health risks they pose, particularly in hospital environments.
According to World Health Organization research cited by Roche, this rising resistance is becoming “a public health emergency of yet unknown proportions”.
A report co-authored by the European Medicines Agency in 2009 indicated that 25,000 people die every year in the EU as a result of antimicrobial resistance.
The same report estimated related annual healthcare and productivity costs of €1.5 billion to the European economy.
Roche will pay Polyphor an initial $38 million before doling out further payments based on a series of performance-related goals.
The latter company will receive royalties on future sales and has the option to promote an inhaled version of the drug in Europe with Roche, should development come to fruition.
POL7080 is part of a new class of drugs called Protein Epitope Mimetics (PEM) molecules. It has a novel mode of action which is effective against drug-resistant bacteria and is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be lethal among patients with weakened immune systems, such as those being treated for cancer. It can lead to complications such as urinary tract and gastrointestinal infections.
Polyphor chief executive Jean-Pierre Obrecht, said: “This agreement is an important milestone for Polyphor and rewards more than 10 years of research and development efforts.”
Janet Hammond of Roche Pharma Research and Early Development said: “As the incidence of drug-resistant infections is creating an urgent demand for new therapeutic options, we look forward to adding this potentially important, targeted agent with a novel mechanism of action to our portfolio of innovative medicines.”
Hugh McCafferty
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