Two new therapies are now FDA approved to treat the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea, with Innoviva Inc.’s Nuzolvence (zoliflodacin) and GSK plc’s Blujepa (gepotidacin) offering additional antibiotic options comparable to standard of care. Both products had fast track, qualified infectious disease product and priority review designations.
Bao Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., a developer of subcutaneous biologic drugs, priced its IPO at HK$26.38 on Dec. 2, aiming to raise about HK$1 billion (US$128 million). Bao expects net proceeds of HK$921.5 million after expenses, which will fund its “two-anti” strategy – developing both antibody and antibiotic drugs worldwide, mainly in China, the U.S. and Europe.
As part of global efforts to develop next-generation antibiotics to overcome the growing problem of bacterial resistance to existing drugs, researchers at the Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences prepared various derivatives of the dimethylcysteamine form of pleuromutilin, a naturally occurring diterpenoid.