Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Isis Pharmaceuticals has received a $4m milestone payment from Achaogen as part of the start of a Phase III trial of plazomicin to treat patients with serious multi-drug resistant (MDR), gram-negative bacterial infections.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The Phase III trial is designed to assess the efficacy and safety of plazomicin compared to colistin in patients with bloodstream infections and nosocomial pneumonia caused by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).
In 2013, Achaogen reached a special protocol assessment (SPA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this Phase III trial.
Isis Pharmaceuticals chief operating officer Lynne Parshall said the company’s innovation in the field of RNA-targeted therapeutics has provided them with an extensive and broad intellectual property position that not only covers the discovery, development and manufacturing of its antisense drugs, but also other therapeutic areas, including the discovery of aminoglycosides.
"Our business strategy allows us to maximize the value of our technology and our drugs by partnering with other companies, like Achaogen, to develop our drugs and technologies in areas that are outside of our primary focus.
"We have been very successful with this strategy and have a number of satellite company partners that broaden the scope of our innovations. To date, we have generated well over $400m from the sales and licensing of our intellectual property."
Achaogen is developing plazomicin, a new aminoglycoside drug, to treat serious bacterial infections due to MDR Enterobacteriaceae, including CRE.
Aminoglycosides are a group of antibiotics that inhibit bacterial protein synthesis and that clinicians use for the treatment of serious bacterial infections.