Pfiz­er scoops up an an­tibi­ot­ic in rare M&A deal, bag­ging a vir­tu­al start­up op­er­at­ing on a shoe­string bud­get

Pfiz­er is step­ping up with a rare an­tibi­otics buy­out deal to­day, grab­bing Pa­lo Al­to, CA-based Ar­ixa Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals in a bid to add a new oral ver­sion of avibac­tam, a be­ta lac­ta­mase in­hibitor — or BLI — ap­proved back in 2015 as part of the IV treat­ment Avy­caz.

The Ar­ixa ac­qui­si­tion fol­lows some en­cour­ag­ing Phase I re­spons­es demon­strat­ing that 60% to 80% of the oral drug is ab­sorbed in­to the blood­stream. On­ly 7% of the IV ver­sion is ab­sorbed oral­ly, far be­low the 30% thresh­old Ar­ixa has point­ed to as a ther­a­peu­tic thresh­old. The buy­out gives Pfiz­er’s hos­pi­tal group a line on a new oral com­bo with an­tibi­otics like ceftibuten to go af­ter drug-re­sis­tant cas­es of uri­nary tract in­fec­tions and oth­er ail­ments.

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