Basilea Pharmaceutica is continuing its quest to develop much-needed new antifungal drugs by penning a deal with Prokaryotics.
The collaboration will see Switzerland-based Basilea and U.S.-based Prokaryotics work together to develop a first-in-class broad-spectrum antifungal to treat invasive infections caused by strains of Candida, Aspergillus and rare molds.
Once a suitable candidate reaches the clinic, Basilea will take charge of further development, according to the Jan. 7 release.
Basilea Chief Scientific Officer Laurenz Kellenberger, Ph.D., said there “remains a significant unmet medical need for safe, effective, and easy to administer antifungals, with activity against priority pathogens.”
“This partnership underscores Basilea’s continued commitment to addressing these needs, also evidenced by our robust anti-infective R&D pipeline,” Kellenberger added. “We look forward to working together, combining Prokaryotics expertise in anti-infective drug discovery and Basilea’s capabilities to advance novel drugs to the market.”
The companies kept the financial details vague, only stating that an undisclosed upfront payment was involved, and Prokaryotics could be in line for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to $48.5 million as well as tiered low single-digit royalties on global net sales should the antifungal make it to market.
Basilea currently markets Cresemba for invasive fungal infections and Zevtera for bacterial infections. The low return on investment means many of the biggest biopharmas have given up working on new antifungals or antibiotics in recent years—although GSK in particular has continued to sign deals and post encouraging clinical results against infections like gonorrhea.
Meanwhile, Basilea has swum against the tide, pivoting away from cancer toward anti-infectives in 2023. One way the Swiss company has financed this strategy is via funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority in the U.S.
In contrast, Prokaryotics was initially founded to take forward a selection of early-stage antibiotic programs licensed from Merck & Co. and is currently working on a preclinical pipeline targeting both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria.
“There is a huge medical need for new antifungal agents with novel modes of action distinct from current clinically used drugs,” Prokaryotics Chief Scientific Officer Terry Roemer, Ph.D., said in this morning’s release.
“This partnership perfectly aligns Prokaryotics’ expertise and passion for discovering novel anti-infectives with Basilea’s exceptional leadership in advancing novel drugs to the market,” Roemer added.