Redx agrees MRSA deal with NHS in UK
The collaboration will run until September 2016
Redx Pharma, a UK-based drug development company, is to work with the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust to develop new drugs to combat antibiotic resistance.
In a collaboration that runs until September 2016, Redx will provide discovery and development expertise across its facilities in Liverpool and Alderley Park, Cheshire, while the Royal will provide its extensive clinical development capabilities.
No financial details have been revealed.
Drug candidates from Redx’s technology platform are to be tested in humans at the Covance-Royal Liverpool University Hospital Clinical Research Unit. Upon securing clinical proof of concept, Redx will undertake licensing activities aimed at securing a third-party development and commercialisation partner. The Royal and Redx will share the costs and financial benefits.
The programme focuses on therapies to tackle drug-resistant bacteria, including clinically relevant strains of methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA).
The need for fast-tracked new treatments in this area has been highlighted by the World Health Organisation – and also prioritised by Dame Sally Davies, the UK Government's Chief Medical Officer.
Neil Murray, Chief Executive of Redx Pharma, said: 'As the World Health Organisation has confirmed, growing antibiotic resistance constitutes a fundamental threat to global public health. We share our project partner’s determination to unlock the answers to this problem and provide new medicines that will promote a safe and secure environment in the years ahead.'
Professor Robert Sutton, Director of Research, Development and Innovation at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust, added: 'We have a successful track record in the field of experimental medicine and are unique in the UK in our investment in clinical pharmacology along with our position in the local health and life science industry. We have worked closely with Redx Pharma for many years and this partnership is delivering ground breaking research that will benefit local people in Liverpool and patient groups around the world.'
