MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a world leader in antibacterial and antiviral drug research and development, today announced that it entered into an exclusive license agreement (“License Agreement”) with Everest Medicines II Limited (“Everest”), a C-Bridge Capital-backed biopharmaceutical company with operations based in China, to support the development, registration and commercialization of cefepime/VNRX-5133 in Greater China, South Korea and Southeast Asia (“the Territory”) for complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), infections due to carbapenem resistant pathogens, and hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP).
Under the terms of the License Agreement, VenatoRx and Everest will collaborate on the global Phase 3 clinical development trials of cefepime/VNRX-5133, Everest will be solely responsible for the commercialization of cefepime/VNRX-5133 in the Territory, and VenatoRx will be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of cefepime/VNRX-5133 in the Territory.
“We are thrilled to partner with Everest as we ramp up our global Phase 3 clinical trials,” said Christopher J. Burns, Ph.D., President and CEO of VenatoRx. “Everest is renowned for its dedication to develop and commercialize novel transformative pharmaceutical therapies for patients in Asia. Our lead asset, VNRX-5133, in combination with cefepime, has the opportunity to address a critical unmet medical need for patients in Greater China. We look forward to working with Everest to commercialize cefepime/VNRX-5133 and thwart the increasing threat of antibiotic resistance.”
“Bacterial drug resistance is a critical health issue and innovative new classes of antibiotics are urgently needed,” said Sean Wuxiong Cao, Interim CEO at Everest. “We only partner with companies that have innovative assets and large commercial potential. In light of the fact that up to a third of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial infections in China carry metallo-beta-lactamase resistance enzymes, cefepime/VNRX-5133 has the potential to be the best-in-class treatment option for our region.”
About VNRX-5133
VNRX-5133 is a Phase 3-ready, injectable beta-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) that features uniquely potent and selective activity against both serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases. VenatoRx is currently developing VNRX-5133 in a fixed combination with the fourth generation cephalosporin, cefepime. VenatoRx believes that cefepime/VNRX-5133 has the potential to provide a best-in-class broad-spectrum treatment option for infections due to carbapenem resistant pathogens including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), bioterror pathogens such as Burkholderia spp. and Salmonella spp. engineerable with serine- and metallo-beta-lactamases, and suspected polymicrobial infections caused by both gram-negative and gram-positive pathogens.
Development of cefepime/VNRX-5133 has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272201300019C, and The Wellcome Trust under Award No. 360G-Wellcome-101999/Z/13/Z.
About VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
VenatoRx is a private pharmaceutical company that is developing a new wave of anti-infective products to address increasing medical needs. VenatoRx’s lead product, VNRX-5133, is an injectable broad-spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) that directly inhibits all four Ambler classes of beta-lactamases. In addition, VenatoRx has a broad pipeline of preclinical programs, including a broad-spectrum orally bioavailable BLI, a novel class of Penicillin-Binding Protein (PBP) inhibitors that are impervious to beta-lactamase-driven resistance, and novel antiviral agents. For more information, please visit www.venatorx.com.
About Everest Medicines II Limited
Everest is a C-Bridge Capital-backed biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing transformative pharmaceutical products that address critical unmet medical needs for patients in Greater China and other Asian markets. The management team of Everest has deep expertise and an extensive track record of high quality clinical development, regulatory affairs, CMC, business development and operations both in China and with leading global pharmaceutical companies.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” concerning the development and commercialization of VenatoRx products, the potential benefits and attributes of such products, and VenatoRx’s expectations regarding its products and its collaboration with Everest. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are made as of the date of this press release. Actual results may vary. VenatoRx undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements for any reason.
