Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company Announce License Agreement for Quinolone Antibiotic
New Haven, Connecticut and Osaka, Japan. June 1, 2006 — Rib-X
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd.
announced today that they have entered into an agreement to develop
and commercialize WQ-3034, a broad spectrum quinolone antibiotic.
WQ-3034 was originally identified by Wakunaga scientists and has been
shown to be safe and effective in Phase II human clinical testing.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rib-X receives an exclusive worldwide license to WQ-3034 and all formulations of the compound for all uses with the right to sublicense. Wakunaga has received an upfront fee and will receive additional payments based upon certain development and commercialization milestones and royalty payment on the eventual sale of products containing the compound.
"WQ-3034 is a very exciting quinolone antibiotic distinguished by its excellent activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), including strains resistant to currently available fluoroquinolones, and a clinical package showing us that it is a very safe and effective antibiotic," said Susan Froshauer, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X. "WQ-3034 is a broad spectrum antibiotic that has the potential to be used in a range of distinct market sectors," continued Dr. Froshauer. "Rib-X is committed to the development of a broad portfolio of antibiotics that are active against the ever increasing numbers of resistant bacteria, and we are excited by the addition of WQ-3034 to our growing pipeline of novel internally discovered antibiotics."
"Rib-X is a developing leader in antibiotic therapies, and we are thrilled to have them as our partner in the development of WQ-3034," said Akira Yazaki, Ph.D., Distinguished Scientist of the Institute of Medical Research of Wakunaga. "Rib-X benefits from the data from seven Phase 1 and two Phase 2 studies involving more than 900 patients."
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a product-driven small-molecule drug discovery and development company focused on developing and commercializing antibiotics to treat highly-resistant bacterial infections. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the Company has raised over $170 million and has two programs, delafloxacin and radezolid, in advanced clinical trials. In addition, a preclinical program featuring an entirely new class of broad-spectrum antibiotics with the potential to treat even highly- resistant Gram-negative infections is scheduled to begin clinical trials in 2011.
Rib-X designs and develops novel small-molecule antibiotics by leveraging the Company's Nobel Prize- winning discovery platform to perform structure-based design and optimization. While many commercially valuable classes of antibiotics bind to the bacterial ribosome, including oxazolidinones, tetracyclines and macrolides, traditional antibiotic discovery relies heavily on serendipity. Rib-X's key competitive advantage is its proprietary understanding of ribosome structure, which enables it to generate antibiotics that overcome known resistance mechanisms and have broad-spectrum activity.
Rib-X's integrated research strategy combines state-of-the-art, proprietary computational analysis, X-ray crystallography, medicinal chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, thereby allowing Rib-X to rapidly synthesize new agents designed to avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Rib-X's iterative intelligent engine has yielded several distinct new antibiotic classes.
Wakunaga Background
Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company, established in 1955, and its U.S. affiliate, Wakunaga of America (http://www.kyolic.com) have been playing an important role in promoting public health worldwide through the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of high quality medicinal herb products. In addition, the Company has an active and innovative research venture focused on the discovery of novel small molecule candidates for prescription drugs. One area of focused interest is the discovery of next generation quinolone antibiotics. The company's basic strategy for the development and commercialization of prescription drugs is to out-license drug candidates at an early stage of discovery or development. Wakunaga has been highly successful with this strategy and has implemented productive relationships with a number of pharmaceutical companies. Wakunaga is a pioneer in the area of biotechnology research in Japan and currently develops and markets DNA diagnostics and other products.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rib-X receives an exclusive worldwide license to WQ-3034 and all formulations of the compound for all uses with the right to sublicense. Wakunaga has received an upfront fee and will receive additional payments based upon certain development and commercialization milestones and royalty payment on the eventual sale of products containing the compound.
"WQ-3034 is a very exciting quinolone antibiotic distinguished by its excellent activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP), including strains resistant to currently available fluoroquinolones, and a clinical package showing us that it is a very safe and effective antibiotic," said Susan Froshauer, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X. "WQ-3034 is a broad spectrum antibiotic that has the potential to be used in a range of distinct market sectors," continued Dr. Froshauer. "Rib-X is committed to the development of a broad portfolio of antibiotics that are active against the ever increasing numbers of resistant bacteria, and we are excited by the addition of WQ-3034 to our growing pipeline of novel internally discovered antibiotics."
"Rib-X is a developing leader in antibiotic therapies, and we are thrilled to have them as our partner in the development of WQ-3034," said Akira Yazaki, Ph.D., Distinguished Scientist of the Institute of Medical Research of Wakunaga. "Rib-X benefits from the data from seven Phase 1 and two Phase 2 studies involving more than 900 patients."
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a product-driven small-molecule drug discovery and development company focused on developing and commercializing antibiotics to treat highly-resistant bacterial infections. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, the Company has raised over $170 million and has two programs, delafloxacin and radezolid, in advanced clinical trials. In addition, a preclinical program featuring an entirely new class of broad-spectrum antibiotics with the potential to treat even highly- resistant Gram-negative infections is scheduled to begin clinical trials in 2011.
Rib-X designs and develops novel small-molecule antibiotics by leveraging the Company's Nobel Prize- winning discovery platform to perform structure-based design and optimization. While many commercially valuable classes of antibiotics bind to the bacterial ribosome, including oxazolidinones, tetracyclines and macrolides, traditional antibiotic discovery relies heavily on serendipity. Rib-X's key competitive advantage is its proprietary understanding of ribosome structure, which enables it to generate antibiotics that overcome known resistance mechanisms and have broad-spectrum activity.
Rib-X's integrated research strategy combines state-of-the-art, proprietary computational analysis, X-ray crystallography, medicinal chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, thereby allowing Rib-X to rapidly synthesize new agents designed to avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Rib-X's iterative intelligent engine has yielded several distinct new antibiotic classes.
Wakunaga Background
Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company, established in 1955, and its U.S. affiliate, Wakunaga of America (http://www.kyolic.com) have been playing an important role in promoting public health worldwide through the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of high quality medicinal herb products. In addition, the Company has an active and innovative research venture focused on the discovery of novel small molecule candidates for prescription drugs. One area of focused interest is the discovery of next generation quinolone antibiotics. The company's basic strategy for the development and commercialization of prescription drugs is to out-license drug candidates at an early stage of discovery or development. Wakunaga has been highly successful with this strategy and has implemented productive relationships with a number of pharmaceutical companies. Wakunaga is a pioneer in the area of biotechnology research in Japan and currently develops and markets DNA diagnostics and other products.
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Kari Watson
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Sarah Cavanaugh
MacDougall BioMedical Communications 781-235-3060 scavanaugh@macbiocom.com |