Basilea participates in public-private collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance
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Basilea Pharmaceutica AG /
Basilea participates in public-private collaboration to tackle antibiotic
resistance
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Basel, Switzerland, May 25, 2012 - Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. welcomes the
launch in Europe of a pioneering approach to antibiotic research that will see
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies working alongside public partners to
tackle the rising threat from antimicrobial resistance and address some of the
key barriers to the development of effective antibiotics.
The objective of the proposed research program, NewDrugs4BadBugs, is to improve
the underlying scientific understanding of antibiotic resistance, design and
implement efficient clinical trials and take novel drug candidates through
clinical development. The program is part of the European Commission's Action
Plan against the rising threats from Antimicrobial Resistance, launched in
November last year.
Supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), the world's largest
public-private partnership in health care, the program's first projects will be
funded by a joint budget of up to EUR 223.7 million - EUR 109 million provided
by IMI and EUR 114.7 million in kind contributions from the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies involved.
Basilea, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Janssen and Sanofi will work alongside
public research organizations and scientific experts to address several aspects
of antimicrobial resistance and stimulate new antibiotic research. Further
projects within the program, with additional funding, are expected to launch
later in the year.
Basilea's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Laurenz Kellenberger, stated:
"Antibiotic R&D is at an important turning point. We have joined this
collaboration because of our strong belief in its significant value to all
stakeholders concerned with fighting antimicrobial drug resistance. The mutual
scientific and financial advantages of the initiative will contribute to
increasing the chances of finding new effective antimicrobial drugs. Together
with ongoing positive developments in the regulatory and legislative areas we
see the environment becoming even more attractive and rewarding for small
company innovators."
Antibiotic resistance is increasingly becoming a worldwide health threat. Many
of the medical advances in recent years, such as chemotherapy for cancer
treatment and organ transplantation, depend on effective antibiotics. Despite
this need and the continued emergence of bacteria resistant to existing drugs,
research has diminished over the past 15 years and few companies remain active
in this area. This is due to the scientific difficulties in finding new agents
that successfully target bacteria, regulatory complexities and insufficient
commercial incentives needed to encourage investment in this area and to fund
future R&D.
The proposed research program will initially focus on three key areas:
progressing development of pipeline antibiotics and improving the design of
future clinical trials; information sharing across the wider antibiotic research
community to improve the chances of success in developing the next generation of
antibiotics; and continuing research and discovery of new antibiotics,
specifically finding new approaches to the design of antibiotics effective
against Gram-negative bacteria.
Key to the success of NewDrugs4BadBugs will be the involvement of multiple
public partners from across Europe. Public institutions and research
organizations, clinical investigators and scientific experts are being
encouraged to learn more about the proposed research program through a series of
events. Full details can be found at www.imi.europa.eu.
About Basilea
Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and listed on
the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX:BSLN). Through its fully integrated research and
development operations the company focuses on innovative pharmaceutical products
in the therapeutic areas of bacterial infections, fungal infections, oncology
and skin diseases, targeting the medical challenge of rising resistance and non-
response to current treatment options in the hospital and specialty care
setting.
Basilea's portfolio of investigational anti-infectives includes ceftobiprole,
isavuconazole and BAL30072.
Ceftobiprole is a novel broad-spectrum anti-MRSA cephalosporin antibiotic for
the potential first-line empiric treatment of severe multi-drug resistant
bacterial infections. Available data demonstrate activity against a wide range
of clinically-relevant Gram-positive as well as Gram-negative bacteria including
Pseudomonas, highlighting the potential of ceftobiprole for the early treatment
of severe infections such as pneumonia treated in the hospital.
Isavuconazole is a novel broad-spectrum antifungal with the potential to become
the best-in-class azole for the treatment of severe invasive fungal infections.
It has excellent in-vitro and in-vivo coverage of a broad range of yeasts (such
as Candida species) and molds (such as Aspergillus species) as well as less
common but clinically important molds such as Zygomycetes spp.
BAL30072 is a novel sulfactam antibiotic specifically targeting multidrug-
resistant Gram-negative bacteria. In in-vitro and in-vivo models it demonstrated
potent bactericidal activity against a broad range of multidrug-resistant Gram-
negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas or Acinetobacter species. It overcomes
bacterial resistance by several mechanisms and has enhanced stability against
bacterial beta-lactamase enzymes, such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases
(ESBLs), carbapenemases and the recently characterized New Delhi metallo-beta-
lactamase 1 (NDM-1), which cause resistance against many currently marketed
antibiotics. The activity of BAL30072 is further enhanced when combined with
penem-class antibiotics.
About the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)
The Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI JU) is a unique pan-
European public private partnership between the European Commission and EFPIA
(European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations). The aim of
IMI is to propose a coordinated approach to overcome identified research
bottlenecks in the drug development process, in order to accelerate the
development of safe and more effective medicines for patients, by fostering
collaboration between all stakeholders such as industry, public authorities
(including regulators), organizations of patients, academia and clinical
centers, and enhancing Europe's competitiveness. Further information can be
found at www.imi.europa.eu.
Disclaimer
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking
statements concerning Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. and its business. Such
statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance
or achievements of Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. to be materially different from
any future, anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. Basilea Pharmaceutica Ltd. is
providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update
any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
For further information, please contact:
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------+
| Media Relations | Investor Relations |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------+
| Peer Nils Schröder, Ph.D. | Barbara Zink, Ph.D., MBA |
| Head Public Relations & | Head Corporate Development |
| Corporate Communications | |
| +41 61 606 1102 | +41 61 606 1233 |
| media_relations(at)basilea.com | investor_relations(at)basilea.com |
+-----------------------------+--------------------------------+
This press release can be downloaded from www.basilea.com.
Press release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/134390/R/1614822/514626.pdf
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originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Basilea Pharmaceutica AG via Thomson Reuters ONE
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