Cempra Pharmaceuticals is set for their initial public offering (IPO) later this week.
Cempra’s two lead drug candidates are
antibiotics that would address drug-resistant bacteria. Cempra is
targeting an antibiotics market Datamonitor estimates was $19.6 billion
in the United States, Japan and the five major European markets in 2009.Proceeds from the Cempra IPO will finance late-stage clinical trials on two antibiotic candidates targeting drug-resistant bacteria. The antibiotic treatment CEM-101, also called solithromycin, is ready to enter phase 3 clinical trials as a pneumonia treatment. The drug may also have applications in Legionnaires’ disease and sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis. Cempra reported positive phase 2 clinical trial results for the antibiotic last September, just prior to the firm’s October IPO filing.
A second candidate called Taksta has finished phase 2 clinical trials and would be studied in phase 3 as a treatment for skin infections, including MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus). Cempra earlier this month updated its filings, setting a price range of $11 to $13 per share for the IPO.
