EDMONTON, Alberta and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 3, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -
Chirologix to Develop NAEJA's Syn1193 for Treatment and
Management of Biofilm-related Bacterial Infections, and
Microsphaeropsin B for Treatment of Serious
Life-Threatening Bacterial Infections
NAEJA Pharmaceutical Inc., a private Alberta-based company, today announced that it has signed two separate agreements with Chirologix Pharmaceuticals Inc., a private British Columbia-based company, to develop and commercialize drugs based upon NAEJA's proprietary antibiotic leads, in order to overcome resistance mechanisms in clinically-important bacterial pathogens.
As a result of the increase in the number of cases of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, medical communities worldwide are responding to this threat with development of new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action as the method of choice.
NAEJA has developed several approaches to the discovery of antibiotics.
Syn1193 is a new antibiotic with exceptional activity against biofilm-forming bacteria, the main cause for treatment failure in end-stage renal dialysis patients. Currently, no effective therapies exist to prevent the recurrences of such infections.
Sales estimates for Syn1193 could exceed US$500 million per year worldwide.
Microsphaeropsin B is a novel compound with potent activity against Gram-positive bacteria, the most common cause of life-threatening lung and blood infections. The compound was discovered jointly by scientists at NAEJA and the Institute of Marine Biosciences, a division of the National Research Council of Canada.
Sales estimates for Microsphaeropsin B could exceed US$300 million per year worldwide.
The agreements between Chirologix and NAEJA include terms that will see Chirologix acquiring all rights to Syn1193 in exchange for Chirologix stock, milestone payments and royalties on product sales. In addition, Chirologix will sublicense Microsphaeropsin B from NAEJA in exchange for milestone payments and royalties on product sales.
"We are very pleased to be working with Chirologix on these programs and are coordinating our efforts to see our products reach market potential," said Dr. Ronald G. Micetich, President & CEO of NAEJA.
"Finalizing these agreements with Chirologix validates again NAEJA's approach and expertise in drug discovery and development," added Mr. Christopher G. Micetich, Vice President and COO of NAEJA.
"Chirologix is pleased to be collaborating with NAEJA, a company with proven abilities in discovering and developing novel antibacterial compounds," commented Mr. Hugh MacNaught, President and CEO of Chirologix. "This agreement enables our two companies to introduce new drugs that will address the growing challenge of bacterial infections that are resistant to most common antibiotics."
About NAEJA
NAEJA Pharmaceutical Inc., a rapidly growing private Canadian company, was created from the acquisition of DrisCorp Inc. and assets from SynPhar Laboratories Inc.
SynPhar's staff was responsible for the discovery of two drugs, Tazobactam and Mofezolac(r).
Tazobactam is a B-lactamase inhibitor marketed worldwide in combination with Piperacillin as Zosyn(r) or Tazosyn(r) by American Home Products. Mofezolac(r) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent particularly useful for arthritis, and marketed in Japan by Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical Ltd. as Disopain(r).
Driscorp Inc. was a contract research company performing pre-clinical lead optimization medicinal chemistry primarily for the major pharmaceutical company Warner Lambert.
NAEJA employs more than 90 scientific staff and specializes in the areas of infectious diseases, cancer and inflammation. In addition to the above internal research, NAEJA utilizes its expertise in carrying out specialized pre-clinical contract research up to the IND stage.
About CHIROLOGIX
Chirologix Pharmaceuticals Inc. is an early-stage company created to discover and develop small molecule compounds for the treatment of bacterial infections. The company's inaugural program is focused on the development of a novel class of antibacterial compounds named Penicillin Surrogates - compounds designed to possess a similar spectrum and level of antibacterial activity to beta lactam antibiotics, but sufficiently robust to evade bacterial resistance mechanisms. The company has entered into the agreement with NAEJA to enable it to begin working with products at the pre-clinical stage of development.
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