A venture capital firm that was an early investor in companies like Tesaro and CRISPR therapeutics is among the leaders in a new spin-out from The Medicines Co.
San Diego-based Qpex Biopharma announced its launch Monday with a $33 million Series A financing, led by Menlo Park, California-based New Enterprise Associates and one of its partners, Carol Gallagher. According to NEA’s website, Gallagher is former CEO of Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, which developed Zydelig (idelalisib), a phosphoinositide 3-kinase, or PI3K inhibitor, currently marketed by Gilead Sciences for the blood cancers follicular lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The drug initially received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2014.
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Other venture capital firms participating in the financing include Adams Street Partners, LYZZ Capital, Hatteras Venture Partners and Stanford University Draper Fund, along with additional funding by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Through a subsidiary, Qpex has a partnership with BARDA that provides for up to $132 million to support its portfolio of antibiotic candidates.
Qpex’s focus is on developing new antibiotics to overcome antimicrobial resistance, and it has acquired several preclinical anti-infectives from The Medicines Company. This includes beta-lactamase inhibitor technology, which Qpex describes as having “unique pharmacological properties,” including broad spectrum of coverage.
“The urgent, global threat of antimicrobial resistance demands innovation, and we’re responding again to the calls sounded by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and [World Health Organization] for solutions by developing clinical candidates that we believe will be best-in-class anti-infective products,” Qpex CEO Michael Dudley said in a statement. “Our progress will be fueld by our proven established R&D partnership with BARDA that has the potential to drive our new programs into late-stage development.”
Indeed, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a significant and growing problem worldwide, including in the US. According to the CDC, at least 2 million people contract infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 die. The agency lists the most urgent threats as being clostridioides difficile, carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae and drug-resistant neisseria gonorrhoeae. Others, like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant enterococcus, are also listed as serious threats.
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