The Burrill Report

Roche has teamed up with privately held Swiss biotech Polyphor in a deal that signals the Swiss Biopharma’s return to antibiotic research. Roche will pay Polyphor up to $548 million for an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize Polyphor’s investigational macrocycle antibiotic, POL7080, which has just entered mid-stage studies to treat patients with hospital-acquired superbug infections known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Under the terms of their agreement, Roche will pay Polyphor $38 million (CHF 35 million) upfront as well as milestone payments up to $510 million (CHF 465 million), plus royalties. Polyphor retains the option to co-promote an inhaled formulation of POL7080 in Europe.

The deal is part of Roche’s efforts to diversify its pipeline from its primary focus in oncology. It was done by Roche’s research and early development division pRED, which is focused on three areas of unmet need in infectious diseases: antibiotics, influenza, and hepatitis B.

Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to public health worldwide. Pseudomonas aeruginosa accounts for one in every 10 hospital-acquired infections in the United States and is listed as one of the six most dangerous drug-resistant microbes.

“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,” says Janet Hammond, head of infectious diseases at Roche pRED.

November 05, 2013
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-roche_enters_antibiotics_partnership_with_polyphor.html