Trius Therapeutics, Inc. (TSRX) Receives $25 Million Upfront from Bayer Healthcare for Collaboration on Antibiotic to Fight Bacterial Infectious Diseases in Emerging Markets

QualityStocks would like to highlight Trius Therapeutics (NASDAQ: TSRX), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative antibiotics for life-threatening infections.

In the company’s news yesterday,

Trius Therapeutics announced that Bayer Healthcare will pay $25 million upfront as well as 25 percent of future development costs to develop and commercialize Trius’s lead Phase 3 antibiotic, torezolid phosphate (torezolid). In addition, Trius is eligible to receive up to $69 million upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones and will receive double-digit royalties on net sales of torezolid in the licensed territory.

The two companies aim to get global approval for torezolid as the drug of choice to combat acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and pneumonia. Bayer will get the opportunity to sell the antibiotic in all countries in Asia including China and Japan, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, but excluding North and South Korea. Trius will maintain full development and commercialization rights for the product outside those areas including the United States, Canada and the European Union.

“Bayer’s commitment to the infectious disease area and their depth and breadth of experience in these markets makes them an ideal partner for Trius,” Jeffrey Stein, Ph.D., President and CEO of Trius stated in today’s press release. “At the same time, consistent with our strategy, we have retained rights to the U.S. and E.U. markets where life-threatening infections from MRSA and other gram positive pathogens continue to be a significant concern.”

The antibiotic , torezolid phosphate, is an IV and orally administered second generation oxazolidinone in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of ABSSSI, the first such trial to be initiated under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA). Trius holds an exclusive license to torezolid phosphate for territories outside of North and South Korea from Dong-A Pharmaceuticals. In addition to the company’s torezolid phosphate clinical program, it is currently conducting three preclinical programs using its proprietary discovery platform to develop antibiotics to treat infections caused by gram-negative bacteria.

“Bacterial infectious diseases represent one of the largest therapeutic areas in China and continue to grow rapidly there and in other emerging markets. This collaboration is a key element in our strategy of bringing innovative medicines to patients, especially in emerging markets,” Dr. Jorg Reinhardt, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer HealthCare, said in the press release.

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subgroup of Bayer AG, is one of the world’s leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry. Bayer HealthCare’s aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide.

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