GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) has inked a licensing deal with a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech that will give it access to an oral antibiotic for complicated urinary tract infections.
The UK group is paying Spero Therapeutics Inc an initial US$66mln to license the latter’s tebipenem pivoxil hydrobromide, which is about to enter phase III clinical trials.
GSK will also subscribe for US$9mln worth of the US group’s shares, while clinical, commercial and sales milestone payments could see Spero receive a further US$525mln.
The deal makes a mockery of the US minnow’s US$28mln market capitalisation.
"There is a high unmet medical need for a novel oral antibiotic as an alternative to intravenous hospital therapy for drug-resistant complicated urinary tract infections,” said Luke Miels, GSK’s chief commercial officer.