Swiss drugmaker Roche has entered into a license agreement with Polyphor for the development and commercialization of its investigational macrocycle antibiotic, POL7080, to treat patients suffering from bacterial infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The deal will see Roche make pay about CHF500m ($548m) to Polyphor, which includes an upfront payment of CHF35m ($38m) and milestone payments upon reaching certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, potentially up to CHF465m ($509m).
In addition, Polyphor will receive tiered double-digit royalties on product sales as well as retain the option to co-promote an inhaled formulation of POL7080 in Europe.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a so-called 'superbug' bacterium found in hospitals and resistant to many antibiotic treatments, causes one in every ten hospital-acquired infections in the US and is listed as one of the six most dangerous drug-resistant microbes.
Over 15% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics and close to 5% were resistant to all five classes under surveillance.
The company said POL7080 belongs to a new class of antibiotics that kills Pseudomonas aeruginosa by a novel mode of action.
Roche pRED head of Infectious Diseases Discovery & Translational Area Janet Hammond 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."
