Affinium, Debiopharm deal

Debiopharm acquired all of the drug development assets of antibiotics company Affinium, which will now wind down operations. Debiopharm declined to disclose financial details. Affinium's technology is used for structure-guided discovery of fatty acid biosynthesis 1 (FAB1) inhibitors. The assets also include Affinium's AFN-1252, a small molecule inhibitor of the bacterial fabI enoyl-(acyl carrier protein) reductase that has completed a Phase IIa trial to treat acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI), for which the compound has Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) designation; and AFN-1720, a prodrug of AFN-1252 that is in Phase I testing. Affinium's CMO Barry Hafkin and CSO Nachum Kaplan will join Debiopharm and continue working on the compounds. Debiopharm said their future roles are to be determined. ...