Novartis buys Protez for rights to new antibiotic
June 04, 2008
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced on Wednesday it had bought Protez Pharmaceuticals for 100 million dollars (64.8 million euros), thus acquiring the rights to a new antibiotic.
The initial 100-million-dollar payment could be followed by up to another 300 million depending on the performance of PZ-601, the antibiotic developed by Protez.
PZ-601 is currently undergoing phase II tests. Novartis and Protez are hoping it will act as a broad-spectrum antibiotic effective against potentially fatal drug-resistant infections, a growing problem in hospitals.
In its statement, Novartis said that more than 100,000 people were estimated to have died in the US and Europe from problems relating to antibiotic resistance.