Cempra, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, has signed an exclusive license and development agreement for solithromycin with Toyama Chemical, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings in Japan.
As per the terms of the license and development agreement, Toyama will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize solithromycin in Japan.
Cempra will receive an upfront payment of $10m as well as up to $60m in milestone payments from Toyama based on the achievement of certain objectives.
Cempra CEO Prabhavathi Fernandes said that Toyama has experience in developing and commercializing novel antibiotics in Japan, the second largest antibiotic market in the world.
"We are very pleased to see that Toyama has selected solithromycin to add to its portfolio of antibiotics and it will commit significant resources to initiate clinical development and initiate commercialization activities to bring this important new antibiotic to patients in Japan," Fernandes added.
Solithromycin shows potent antibacterial effect against pneumococcal and Mycoplasma isolates which are resistant to macrolides, as well as immunomodulatory effect that will enable physicians to treat respiratory tract infections in their patients.
