Vicuron (NASDAQ:MICU)
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Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Provides Update on Novartis Peptide
Deformylase Inhibitor Program
KING OF PRUSSIA, Penn., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vicuron
Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: MICU; Nuovo Mercato) announced today that the
company has received another milestone payment from Novartis Pharma AG in
recognition of follow-up lead product candidates identified for Novartis'
development from its ongoing research collaboration focused on peptide
deformylase inhibitors, a novel class of antibiotics.
The company also announced that Novartis has suspended Phase 1 development of
the first lead product candidate from the outpatient respiratory tract program
in favor of developing a second lead compound, which is expected to enter the
clinic by the end of the year.
"The identification of a second lead candidate further validates our
mechanism-based drug design and demonstrates the speed and efficiency with
which this prolific collaboration has brought multiple optimized drug
candidates from concept toward the clinic," said Zhengyu Yuan, Ph.D., Senior
Vice President of Research. "With the preclinical studies started and an
aggressive development timeline established, we expect this candidate to move
from preclinical studies into the clinic in a timely manner."
About Peptide Deformylase Inhibitors
Peptide deformylase inhibitors constitute one of the most promising new
antibiotic classes and hold the potential to treat large markets of community
bacterial infections. The peptide deformylase inhibitor class of antibiotics
targets a novel protein that is essential for bacterial growth and provides the
basis for selective activity toward a wide range of bacterial pathogens. This
new class has already demonstrated promising in vitro and in vivo activities
against a broad spectrum of bacteria, including those resistant to widely used
penicillin, cephalosporin, macrolide, and quinolone antibiotics.
Peptide deformylase is a new target for antibacterial drug discovery. Vicuron
scientists have combined their expertise in bacterial genomics and mechanism
based drug design, with skills in microbiology and pharmacology, in
collaboration with expert scientists at Novartis, to identify a family of
promising molecules from which a lead compound was chosen which demonstrates
selective inhibition of peptide deformylase and exhibits potent broad spectrum
activity against key bacterial pathogens both in vitro and in several in vivo
models.
About Vicuron Pharmaceuticals
Vicuron Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering,
developing, manufacturing and commercializing vital medicine for seriously ill
patients. The company has two New Drug Applications pending with the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration for its lead products, dalbavancin, a novel intravenous
antibiotic for the treatment of serious Gram-positive infections, and
anidulafungin, a novel antifungal agent. Vicuron's versatile research engine
integrates industry-leading expertise in functional genomics, natural products
discovery, mechanism-based drug design and combinatorial and medicinal
chemistry. These approaches are yielding promising novel and next- generation
compounds, many of which are in the later stages of preclinical development. In
addition, the company has research collaborations with leading pharmaceutical
companies, such as Novartis and Pfizer.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements that predict or describe
future events or trends. The matters described in these forward- looking
statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Vicuron's control. Vicuron
faces many risks that could cause its actual performance to differ materially
from the results predicted by its forward-looking statements, including the
possibilities that clinical trials and the results thereof might be delayed or
unsuccessful, that the timing of the filing of any new drug application or any
amendment to a new drug application might be delayed, that clinical trials
might indicate that a product candidate is unsafe or ineffective, that the FDA
might require additional information to be submitted and additional actions to
be taken before it will make any decision, that any filed new drug application
may not be approved by the FDA, that ongoing proprietary and collaborative
research might not occur or yield useful results, that the pipeline may not
yield a new clinical candidate or a commercial product, that a third party may
not be willing to license product candidates on terms acceptable to or at all,
that competitors might develop superior substitutes for Vicuron's products or
market these competitive products more effectively, that a sales force may not
be developed as contemplated and that one or more of Vicuron's product
candidates may not be commercialized successfully. The reports that Vicuron
files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission contain a fuller
description of these and many other risks to which Vicuron is subject. Because
of those risks, Vicuron's actual results, performance or achievements may
differ materially from the results, performance or achievements contemplated by
its forward- looking statements. The information set forth in this news release
represents management's current expectations and intentions. Vicuron assumes no
responsibility to issue updates to the forward-looking matters discussed in
this news release.
DATASOURCE: Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
CONTACT: Dov A. Goldstein, M.D. of Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc.,
+1-610-205-2312, or ; or E. Blair Schoeb of WeissComm
Partners, +1-212-923-6737, or ; or Aline Schimmel
of Burns McClellan Inc., +1-212-213-0006, or .
/First Call Analyst:
Web site: http://www.vicuron.com/