Roche Signals Return to Antibiotics Development with Polyphor Licensing Deal

After exiting antibiotics R&D in 2000 with the spin out of its anti-infectives discovery division into Basilea Pharmaceutica, Roche has highlighted its renewed commitment to the field by licensing global rights to develop and commercialise Polyphor’s macrocyclic antibiotic POL7080, which has potential in the treatment of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Derived from Polyphor’s protein epitope mimetics (PEM) drug discovery platform, POL7080 has demonstrated clinical safety and tolerability in a Phase I study. The deal follows a February 2013 collaboration between Genentech and RQx Pharmaceuticals for the discovery and development of novel small molecule antibiotics active against an undisclosed target.