Cidara and Mundipharma to Collaborate on Antifungal Drug

Cidara Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in San Diego, CA, announced it is entering into a strategic partnership with Mundipharma, a privately owned independent associate company in Cambridge, England, to commercialize rezafungin, a once-weekly echinocandin antifungal for the treatment and prevention of invasive fungal infections. The drug will also serve as a treatment for invasive fungal infections in patients undergoing allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation, breaking the 13-year lull in new therapies for the condition, according to the companies. 

Mundipharma will gain exclusive commercialization rights to rezafungin outside the US and Japan and will make a $9-million equity investment in Cidara, according to a Sept. 3, 2019 company press release. In turn, Cidara will receive a $30-million upfront payment along with an additional $42 million in funding to support global Phase III trials for the drug. The company is also able to receive development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments of up to $568 million plus double-digit royalties.

“Mundipharma is particularly well positioned globally with established hospital and hematology/oncology business units to fully leverage the commercial potential of rezafungin,” said Jeffrey Stein, PhD, president and CEO of Cidara, in the press release. “Through this partnership, both companies fully commit to advancing rezafungin and helping to save the lives of patients who are highly vulnerable to these deadly infections.”

“By partnering with Cidara on rezafungin, we continue to serve our purpose-to move medicine forward,” said Alberto Martinez, PhD, MBA, president and CEO of Mundipharma, in the press release. “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.”

Source: Cidara Therapeutics, Inc