In a deal worth up to €23.6M, Summit Therapeutics licensed the commercialization of its new antibiotic ridinilazole to Eurofarma.
Oxford-based Summit Therapeutics is working on new antibiotics to fight antimicrobial resistance. Its candidate ridinilazole has attracted the attention of a Brazilian pharma, Eurofarma, and the pair has made a deal for $2.5M (€2.1M) upfront and up to $25M (€21M) if development milestones are met. Ridinilazole’s aim is to treat Clostridium difficile infections, which have largely become resistant to standard treatments like clindamycin, fluoroquinolones and rifampicin, while minimizing damage to a patient’s microbiome.
This comes as the latest success for ridinilazole, which could be the new go-to antibiotic in case of emergency since it has been outperforming vancomycin. Earlier this year, Summit collected €52M for its progress with the drug in a Barda contract, designed to counter public health emergencies. But if it’s not enough, Basilea, AiCuris and Curetis are all working on their own new antibiotics to aid in the fight against drug resistance
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