ADVANZ PHARMA Corp. Limited (“ADVANZ PHARMA”), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on hospital medicines in Europe, and Allecra Therapeutics (“Allecra”) today announced that the companies have signed an exclusive license agreement under which ADVANZ PHARMA gains the rights to develop and commercialize Allecra’s antibiotic drug candidate cefepime/enmetazobactam within the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Norway. In exchange for the exclusive license, Allecra will receive an upfront payment and development and sales milestones for cefepime/enmetazobactam, as well as double-digit tiered royalties. In addition, the two companies have signed a supply agreement under which Allecra will supply the cefepime/enmetazobactam finished product in the agreed upon territories. No further financial details have been disclosed.

“ADVANZ PHARMA is building a leadership position in Europe as a specialty pharmaceutical company and they are an ideal commercialization partner for Allecra as we advance toward regulatory submission for cefepime/enmetazobactam,” stated Andreas Kranzusch, Chief Financial Officer at Allecra Therapeutics. “This agreement, together with our license agreement with Shanghai Haini for commercialization in China, reflects the understanding that there remains a need worldwide to address the dangerous increase of resistance  to standard-of-care antibiotics. The pandemic has only heightened this awareness.”

Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of ADVANZ PHARMA, commented: “The importance of antibiotics and the quest to find new agents to overcome the issue of increasing resistance cannot be underestimated. As we continue to push forward with our goal to become the partner of choice for commercializing hospital medicines in Europe, this is a great addition to our anti-infectives portfolio, and will further help enhance choice and access for patients. We look forward to adding cefepime/enmetazobactam to our portfolio upon regulatory approval.”

Cefepime/enmetazobactam is a combination of enmetazobactam, a extended-spectrum β- lactamase inhibitor, combined with the 4th generation cephalosporin cefepime. Due to their efficacy and safety, β-Lactams are the most widely used class of antibiotics, referred to commonly as penicillins and related β-lactam classes of cephalosporins, and cephamycins, among other names. Due to the extensive use, a growing number of pathogens have become resistant to a wide range of β-lactam antibiotics, posing a growing risk in both developed and developing countries. In the US alone, Extended-Spectrum β-lactam Resistant Pathogens (ESBLs) have increased >50% over a 6-year period. The consummation of the licensing transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions precedent.