Shionogi has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Qpex Biopharma for approximately $140m, marking a notable expansion to its antimicrobial pipeline.
The Japanese drugmaker is offering an upfront payment of $100m for US-based Qpex and its three clinical-stage antibiotic programmes, with Qpex equity holders eligible to receive further milestone payments of $40m upon meeting regulatory and development goals.
Declared by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten threats to global public health, AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change and adapt to antibiotics over time. As a result, infections become harder to treat, and the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death increases.
The deal grants Shionogi access to xeruborbactam, an investigational extended spectrum beta-lactamase inhibitor that is in early-stage clinical development for infections caused by drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria.
Shionogi said it will take over the development of xeruborbactam, which may be used in combination with other antibiotics “to protect against potential future resistance challenges”.
Isao Teshirogi, chief executive officer of Shionogi, said: “Bacterial resistance to antibiotics remains one of the biggest threats to global health, and Qpex’s pipeline, including xeruborbactam, and its capabilities will accelerate our efforts to develop new antibiotic treatments to address antimicrobial resistance.
“Following the close of the acquisition, Qpex will become part of Shionogi, and we will work together to comprehensively address the needs of patients and healthcare professionals and to protect society from current and emerging life-threatening bacterial infections.”
Michael Dudley, president and chief executive officer of Qpex, said the company was “thrilled” to become part of Shionogi, adding that the collaboration would “help drive the availability of new products for treating drug-resistant infections worldwide”.
Shionogi released real-world evidence earlier this year demonstrating the efficacy of its own antibiotic, cefiderocol, against some of the most difficult-to-treat gram-negative bacterial infections.
Interim results from the study, which were presented by the company at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, showed that cefiderocol achieved clinical cure in 65% of seriously ill patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections, and 81% were alive within 30 days of starting treatment.
Seriously ill patients with Acinetobacter baumannii infections were also included in the study. Cefiderocol achieved clinical cure in 60% of these patients, and 76% were alive within 30-days of starting treatment, Shionogi said.