Pacific Beach BioSciences signs licensing agreement with major pharmaceutical company

Dec 9 2009

Pacific Beach BioSciences, Inc. today reported that it has granted non-exclusive rights to a large pharmaceutical company for the use of one of its anti-fungal compounds required for the manufacturing of a clinical stage product. “This is the first licensing agreement Pacific Beach BioSciences has entered into since acquisition of the worldwide rights to an extensive anti-fungal platform. We hope to further exploit the opportunities in this platform through our research efforts,” stated Interim President and CEO, James Rock.

The rights to the antifungal platform that was acquired by Pacific Beach BioSciences includes several anti-fungal targets with the lead program focusing on novel glucan synthesis inhibitors. “Our early development work has suggested that our lead compounds could demonstrate acceptable oral bioavailability in addition to broad spectrum anti-fungal activity including activity against Aspergillus and Candida strains of fungi,” noted James Rock.

The market for antifungal products is over $10 billion and is expected to increase approximately 4% a year due to an increase in fungal infections associated with immuno-compromising treatment for cancer patients, transplant recipients receiving immunosuppressive therapy and HIV infected patients. These are life-threatening infections requiring prophylaxsis and empiric therapy even in the absence of a specific diagnosis. There is an acute clinical need for better antifungal drugs with enhanced safety profiles and flexible dosing regimens to fill the gap where current treatment options fall short.