Cumbre Pharmaceuticals and TB Alliance Announce Partnership
to Develop New Agents for Tuberculosis Therapy
New TB Drugs Urgently Needed to Replace Treatments Designed in the 1960s
Dallas, Texas/New York, September 27, 2006 -- Cumbre Pharmaceuticals Inc, a Dallas-based biopharmaceutical company, and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a public-private partnership developing affordable new TB drugs, today announced plans to pursue a joint program to develop new, promising anti-tuberculosis agents.
Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will work on the design, synthesis and optimization of two different classes of multi-functional antibiotics. The collaboration will utilize Cumbre’s unique antibiotic discovery and development technical platform to deliver novel antibiotic compounds. The TB Alliance will have exclusive rights to these compounds for the treatment of tuberculosis and other neglected diseases, while Cumbre will retain the rights to pursue compounds for use in other infectious disease areas.
“We are very excited to work with the TB Alliance on this program,” said Dr. Simon Lynch, Cumbre’s Director of Research. “This agreement not only serves as a validation of Cumbre’s core antibiotic discovery and development platform, but also provides an opportunity to explore the potential of two different classes of multi-functional antibiotics for their utility in a wide variety of infections, including bacterial diseases, like tuberculosis, which are under-served by the mainstream pharmaceutical industry.” The TB Alliance is leading the development of the first, most comprehensive portfolio of TB drug candidates in decades, and is accelerating discovery, preclinical and clinical research of known and novel classes of antibiotics to shorten and simplify the treatment of tuberculosis. The last class of TB drugs was developed and approved in the 1960s, and the lengthy treatment (6-9 months) imposed by the old drugs is hindering the progress of TB control.
“This partnership makes a significant contribution to expanding a much-needed, robust TB drug pipeline,” said Dr. Melvin Spigelman, Director Research and Development of the TB Alliance. “By joining both parties’ unique expertise and committing to affordability, we are making a major step forward in developing new treatments to solve an ancient, but still-deadly global health problem.”
Today, it takes an average of 130 doses to cure TB. The long-term goal of the TB Alliance is to develop a shorter regimen with novel drugs which could be effective in as few as 10 doses. Public health experts agree that a faster-acting TB cure would improve compliance, lower relapse rates, and reduce health care costs by limiting the time required to monitor patients. Health care costs could be reduced by 65 percent and free health workers to diagnose and treat more cases.
About Cumbre Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Cumbre Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of anti-infective products for the treatment of serious and life-threatening bacterial infections, particularly those caused by antibiotic resistant pathogens. Cumbre’s strategy is to design, optimize and develop novel, multifunctional anti-infective drugs that target multiple inhibitory pathways. Cumbre has commenced Phase 1 clinical trials on its lead candidate, CBR-2092. Based on its overall preclinical profile of activity, Cumbre believes that CBR-2092 will address a clear unmet medical need by demonstrating superior activity in treating persistent infections that are recalcitrant to current antibiotic therapies.
About the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development
The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development is a not-for-profit, product development public-private partnership accelerating the discovery and/or development of affordable, new anti-TB drugs that will shorten treatment, be effective against multidrug resistant strains, treat HIV-TB co-infection, and improve treatment of latent infection. Working with public and private research laboratories worldwide, it is leading the development of the first, most comprehensive portfolio of TB drug candidates in three decades. It operates with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS) and Irish Aid. For more information on TB drug development and the TB Alliance, please visit www.tballiance.org.