BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

BARDA awards MDCO up to $90M for Carbavance

February 6, 2014 1:14 AM UTC

HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency awarded The Medicines Co. (NASDAQ:MDCO) a contract worth up to $90 million to develop Carbavance for serious gram-negative infections as well as melioidosis and glanders, which are caused by the bioterrorism agents Burkholderia pseudomallei and B. mallei, respectively. The Medicines Co. will receive $19.8 million initially, with the contract worth $90 million if extended to the full five years.

Last month, FDA granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation for Carbavance in six indications, including complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs), complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAIs), hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP) and febrile neutropenia. This year, The Medicines Co. plans to start Phase III testing of Carbavance for cUTIs and serious gram-negative infections. The company gained Carbavance -- an IV combination of RPX7009, a boron-containing beta lactamase inhibitor, and biapenem (RPX2003), a generic carbapenem antibiotic -- through its December acquisition of Rempex Pharmaceuticals Inc. ...