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Rib-X Pharmaceuticals and Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company Announce License Agreement for Quinolone Antibiotic
06/01/2006
New Haven, CT and Osaka, Japan - 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, PhD, President and CEO 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, PhD,
Distinguished Scientist of the Institute of Medical Research of Wakunaga. "Rib-X
benefits from the data from seven Phase I and two Phase II studies involving
more than 900 patients."
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals is a product-driven small molecule drug discovery and
development company focused on the structure-based design of new classes of
antibiotics. The Company's underlying drug discovery engine capitalizes on its
proprietary high-resolution crystal structure of the 50S subunit of the
ribosome, which performs an essential role in the fundamental process of protein
synthesis, and to which many known, commercially valuable antibiotics bind,
including those used to treat both community-acquired and hospital- acquired
pathogens. The Company's integrated research strategy, which combines state of
the art, proprietary computational analysis, x-ray crystallography, medicinal
chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, allows it to rapidly synthesize new
agents designed to avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Rib-X's
iterative intelligent engine has yielded several distinctive new antibiotic
classes. Its most advanced program, the RX-01 program is in Phase I as an
oral/IV agent to treat serious Hospital- Gram-positive infections. For more
information on the Company, the ribosome and the Rib-X mission, please visit the
Company website at www.rib-x.com.
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.
Contacts:
For Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Rx Communications Group Rhonda Chiger
917-322-2569
For Wakunaga Pharmaceutical Company: Masayasu Okuhira, PhD Manager, Business
Development & Licensing +81-82645-2334
okuhira_m@wakunaga.co.jp |
