Skaletsky back into public life
The merger between Microcide Pharmaceuticals Inc. and privately held Althexis Co. Inc. does not bring old-timer MCDE any closer to a marketed product, but it does provide Althexis Chairman and CEO Mark Skaletsky with some of the programs he needs to integrate downstream.
MCDE, founded in 1992, does infectious diseases-related target discovery using its VALID Microbial Genomics technology. It has a Phase I development program with partner R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute (Raritan, N.J.) for RWJ 54428 (MC-02,479), MCDE's cephalosporin beta-lactam antibiotic to treat Gram-positive bacterial infections. However, the product ran into problems with injection site irritation last year, and additional Phase I trials will be necessary before the product can move forward (see BioCentury, Nov. 6, 2000). ...