Cubist agreed to be acquired by Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, on December 8, at a 35% premium to the value of Cubist's shares over the previous five trading days. Merck's interest in the company started in the first half of 2014, when Cubist was exploring partnerships for Zerbaxa (ceftolozane/tazobactam), its combination antibiotic. (Zerbaxa was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on December 19, after the deal was announced, to treat adults with complicated intra-abdominal infections or complicated urinary tract infections.)
Initiatives launched on both sides of the Atlantic have helped spur antimicrobial development. In the US, Generating Antibiotic Incentives Now, part of 2012's FDA Safety and Innovation Act, granted drug candidates for treating serious and life-threatening infections automatic priority review as well as five years' additional marketing exclusivity through a Qualified Infectious Disease Pathogen (QIDP) designation. Cubist's Zerbaxa—along with three other drugs approved in 2014, including a second drug from Cubist, Sivextro (tedizolid), approved in June—received QIDP. In Europe, the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) launched in 2012 NewDrugs4BadBugs to support the development of new antibiotics. The IMI contributed £109 ($134) million and participating companies another £114.7 ($140.8) million as in-kind contributions (Nat. Biotechnol. 30, 735, 2012).
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