Acquisitions · Pharma
Shionogi to buy San Diego antibiotics developer Qpex for up to $140 million
- Buyer
- Shionogi (Osaka)
- Target
- Qpex Biopharma, San Diego, California
- Value
- $100M upfront plus up to $40M in milestones (about $140M)
- Status
- Completed in July 2023; Qpex became a consolidated subsidiary of Shionogi.
- Date
- 2023-06-26
Shionogi agreed to acquire Qpex Biopharma for $100 million upfront plus up to $40 million tied to development and regulatory milestones. Qpex's lead candidate, xeruborbactam, is a beta-lactamase inhibitor being tested in intravenous and oral combinations against drug-resistant Gram-negative infections.
Why it matters
The deal strengthens Shionogi's position as one of the few large drugmakers still investing in antibiotics, and it adds US R&D staff experienced in working with US regulators.
About Qpex
Qpex, based in San Diego, was spun out of The Medicines Company in 2018 with a $33 million first funding round. Its leaders, including chief executive Michael Dudley, came from Rempex, whose team developed the approved antibiotic combination Vabomere. Its drug work was paid for in whole or in part by BARDA, the US agency for medical countermeasures, and Shionogi planned to keep that partnership.
How xeruborbactam works
Many bacteria resist antibiotics such as penicillins and carbapenems by making enzymes called beta-lactamases that break the drugs down. Xeruborbactam blocks several classes of these enzymes, including metallo-beta-lactamases that no approved inhibitor can stop. Drug-resistant infections killed about 1.27 million people worldwide in 2019, more than HIV or malaria.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
