In a rare Big Phar­ma ad­vance in the an­tibi­otics field, Mer­ck has re­vived hopes for Zer­baxa with a new ap­proval for two types of pneu­mo­nia com­mon­ly ob­served in hos­pi­tals.

Joan But­ter­ton Mer­ck via Twit­ter

The drug — which con­sists of ceftolozane and tazobac­tam — has gar­nered mea­ger sales since it was first ap­proved in 2014 for com­pli­cat­ed uri­nary tract in­fec­tions, not even enough to war­rant a men­tion in Mer­ck’s an­nu­al re­port last year.

Back when Mer­ck bought out Cu­bist for $9.5 bil­lion, Zer­baxa was a bright late-stage prospect tapped for peak sales in the lofty block­buster range of $1.2 bil­lion to $1.5 bil­lion or so.

With the ex­pand­ed la­bel, the phar­ma gi­ant could start inch­ing to­ward that goal. Joan But­ter­ton, as­so­ciate vice pres­i­dent in in­fec­tious dis­ease clin­i­cal re­search at Mer­ck, told Fier­cePhar­ma the new in­di­ca­tion is “re­al­ly what Zer­baxa was de­signed to do.”

An­drew Shorr Med­star Health

“Pneu­mo­nia in ven­ti­lat­ed pa­tients re­mains a sig­nif­i­cant clin­i­cal chal­lenge and is as­so­ci­at­ed with sub­stan­tial mor­bid­i­ty and mor­tal­i­ty,” said An­drew Shorr, head of pul­monary, crit­i­cal care and res­pi­ra­to­ry ser­vices, Med­star Wash­ing­ton Hos­pi­tal Cen­ter, added in a state­ment. “The need to cov­er di­verse pathogens in­clud­ing Pseudomonas aerug­i­nosa and cer­tain En­ter­obac­te­ri­aceae adds to the chal­lenge.”

Last Sep­tem­ber, Mer­ck re­port­ed that Zer­baxa scored in a late-stage non-in­fe­ri­or­i­ty show­down with meropen­em for ei­ther ven­ti­lat­ed hos­pi­tal-ac­quired bac­te­r­i­al pneu­mo­nia or ven­ti­la­tor-as­so­ci­at­ed bac­te­r­i­al pneu­mo­nia.

Bri­an Sko­r­ney Baird

While JP Mor­gan an­a­lysts have fore­cast sales of more than $450 mil­lion, Baird’s Bri­an Sko­r­ney was quick to point out Vi­ba­tiv, OK’d for both in­di­ca­tions, does $20 mil­lion a year. Ther­a­vance sold the an­tibi­ot­ic to Cum­ber­land Phar­ma months ago.

Mer­ck, though, is slog­ging along as one of the last Big Phar­ma work­ing on new an­tibi­otics to­geth­er with Roche and Glax­o­SmithK­line — keep­ing a small ear­ly-stage dis­cov­ery team af­ter ax­ing Cu­bist’s group. Its sub­mis­sion for a com­bo of rele­bac­tam, imipen­em and cilas­tatin to treat com­pli­cat­ed uri­nary tract in­fec­tions (cU­TI) and com­pli­cat­ed in­tra-ab­dom­i­nal in­fec­tions is un­der re­view at the FDA.

Im­age: Shut­ter­stock

A California judge will allow a plaintiff in a state court case to introduce expert testimony connecting a potential carcinogen in former blockbuster medicine Zantac to cancer.

The order was handed down on Thursday from state judge Evelio Grillo, who is now allowing both parties to introduce expert testimony in an upcoming trial after what’s known as a Sargon hearing, where a judge determines the admissibility of expert witnesses and expert opinions.

Abbott is renewing its concussion awareness campaign, weeks after the company received FDA clearance for its lab-based traumatic brain injury (TBI) blood test.

The unbranded campaign features three generations of the Melon family — animated talking melons who slip on toys or take a spill while playing pickleball.

“Don’t mess with your melon. If you hit it, get it checked,” a narrator says.