Novartis, the Swiss Pharmaceutical giant, said it had bought Protez Pharmaceuticals for $100 million, thus acquiring the rights to a new antibiotic. The initial $100 Million payment could be followed by up to another $ 300 million depending on the performance of PZ-601, the antibiotic developed by Protez, an American biotechnology firm.
PZ-601 is currently undergoing phase 11 tests. Novartis and protez are hoping it will act as a broad-spectrum antibiotic effective against potentially fatal drug-resistant infections such as MRSA, a group of bacteria that cannot be treated with normal antibiotics. Novartis said that more than 1000,000 people were estimated to have died in the united States and Europe from problems relating to antibiotic resistance.
” The addition of Protez and its pipeline, including PZ-601, to our existing initiatives will further strengthen ou position in the specialty field of hospital infections”, said Joe Jiminez, chief executive officer of Novartis Pharma.