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news.Forest Laboratories has agreed to acquire Cerexa, a private biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibiotics, for $480 million plus a potential $100 million milestone payment.
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As a result of the acquisition, Forest will obtain development and marketing rights worldwide excluding Japan for two antibiotics, Ceftaroline and ME1036.
Ceftaroline will enter phase III trials early next year and ME1036 is in preclinical development. In a phase II trial of Ceftaroline, the clinical cure rate was 96.7% for patients treated with Ceftaroline and 88.9% for those treated with the gold-standard comparator regimen of vancomycin, with or without adjunctive aztreonam.
“Ceftaroline is an important late-stage development product that can address serious and life-threatening infections in the hospital setting including MRSA,” said Howard Solomon, chairman and CEO of Forest.
In addition, Forest will obtain an option to a third early-stage antibiotic. The cash-for-stock transaction is expected to close in Forest’s fiscal fourth quarter following the expiration of an antitrust waiting period.