Date: January 20, 2012
Company: CUBRC, Inc., of Buffalo, N.Y., and Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals of Watertown, Mass.
Contract amount: $11.4 million in the first year and can be extended an additional four years, for a total of five years and up to a total value of $67.2 million.
About the contract: This contract supports advanced development of a drug called TP-434, a novel antibiotic that potentially could treat illnesses caused by biological threats, such as anthrax and plague, as well as treat bacterial pneumonia and certain life-threatening bacterial infections associated with prolonged hospitalization. Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals currently is developing TP-434, a member of the tetracycline class of antibiotics, to treat complicated intra-abdominal infections. Early research and development indicates that TP-434 also could be effective against bacteria known to be resistant to many other antibiotics, including other tetracyclines. Today’s contract supports testing of TP-434 in clinical and animal studies as well as fine-tuning of drug manufacturing. The contract also supports development of both oral and intravenous formulations of TP-434.
Additional information: BARDA is seeking additional proposals for broad-spectrum antimicrobials that could potentially treat or prevent illness due to biological threat agents. Proposals are accepted through the Broad Agency Announcement BARDA-CBRN-BAA-11-100-SOL-00009 at www.fbo.gov.
