MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of antibiotics to treat drug-resistant bacteria, and Cumencor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the companies have entered a collaboration with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to discover novel therapeutic agents to treat multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Cumencor Pharmaceuticals is a China-based biotechnology company applying MicuRx's proprietary technology platform to discover and develop novel antibiotics for MDR-TB.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will provide an upfront payment, funding for the discovery and preclinical development of novel antibiotics to treat MDR-TB, and payments linked to the development and commercialization (including royalty payments on sales) of any antibiotics developed through the collaboration. All collaboration research will be conducted at the ZhangJiang High-Tech Park in Shanghai, China.
"We are extremely pleased to join forces with Pfizer, a world-class pharmaceutical company that has developed numerous successful antibiotics to treat infectious disease worldwide," said Zhengyu Yuan, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of MicuRx. "With the rapid increase of MDR-TB incidence in the emerging markets including China, we believe that it is critical to pursue development of new therapeutic options for patients suffering from this devastating disease around the world."
"MicuRx's novel approach to developing antibiotics for the treatment of drug-resistant bacteria and their existing technology, know-how and expertise provide the basis for this collaboration," said Steve Yang, Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Pfizer's Asia Research and Development organization. "We expect that any compounds resulting from the collaboration will complement our portfolio of anti-infective agents and build our global presence in the emerging pharmaceutical markets of Asia and beyond."
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