Infectex acquires exclusive rights to Qurient's TB drug Q203

Russian and Korean biotech companies Infectex and Qurient have entered a license agreement granting Infectex exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Qurient's tuberculosis (TB)-fighting drug Q203 in the Russian Federation, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

Q203 is a highly innovative drug for multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis and the first drug in its class with an original mechanism of action. The drug inhibits the growth of MDR clinical isolates of M.tuberculosis and demonstrates the efficacy in animal models of TB at very low doses. Preclinical results have recently been published in Nature Medicine (2013, vol 19, pp. 1157-1160). Infectex will conduct additional preclinical studies and is planning to begin clinical trials by early 2015.

Infectex is a portfolio company of Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund, created with the participation of RVC capital. Dmitry Popov, managing partner at Maxwell Biotech Venture Fund, commented: "We are delighted that Infectex has added a new anti-tuberculosis drug to its portfolio. In spite of the effort of the Russian government, the incidence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis remains high in Russia. This situation creates serious social risks and has a negative economic impact. One can envision that the global strategy of tuberculosis treatment will involve the use of new and highly effective drug combinations. The drug candidates SQ109 and Q203 developed by Infectex have a great potential to become the basis for such combinations."