Cidara Therapeutics has progressed rezafungin through to the completion of Phase II trials, where the antifungal treatment met all of its endpoints in the first-line treatment of invasive Candida infections.
The successful Phase II trial results set the company up to take the treatment forward into Phase III trials, at which point Mundipharma decided to become involved in its development.
Mundipharma will pay Cidara $30m (€27.2m) upfront and make an equity investment of $9m (€8.1m) to secure its position in the strategic partnership.
Cidara will also receive $42m from its partner to support two global Phase III clinical trials. Further payments based on development, regulatory and commercial milestones could add to the value of the deal, bringing the figure closer to a total of $568m.
Alberto Martinez, CEO of Mundipharma, said, “In a world where antifungal resistance is posing a major threat to the lives of vulnerable immunocompromised patients, rezafungin shows promise to address a major unmet medical need, as well as potentially providing a wider spectrum of efficacy in a more convenient administration schedule.”
The two partners will develop the antifungal as a once-weekly, intravenous therapy for first-line treatment of candidemia and invasive candidiasis, as well as for the prophylaxis of invasive fungal infections in patients undergoing allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation.
The companies note that such a treatment for the latter indication would be the first approved in 13 years.
