Pfizer Sheds Vicuron And Cholesterol Drug

Pfizer has sold Vicuron Pharmaceuticals to Durata Therapeutics, an antibiotics-focused drug company recently formed by a five-member venture capital syndicate. Terms were not disclosed, but Pfizer paid $1.9 billion for Vicuron in 2005. Durata gains dalbavancin, a long-acting lipoglycopeptide in late-stage trials for treatment of bacterial infections of the skin and skin structure. Pfizer is keeping the antifungal Eraxis. Separately, Pfizer out-licensed ApoA-I Milano, a variant of apolipoprotein A-I that helps remove cholesterol from artery walls, to the Medicines Co. Pfizer gets $10 million up front for the drug and could receive another $410 million in milestones as it moves toward the market.