Novartis Shutters Antibiotic Firm Protez

Just two years after acquiring Protez Pharmaceuticals, Novartis has shuttered the biotech firm and stopped developing its broad-spectrum antibiotic candidate, PTZ601. A Novartis official says PTZ601, a carbapenem aimed at hospital-acquired infections, was abandoned because of a higher than anticipated rate of rashes in patients given the compound in a Phase II trial. “Due to the high rate of rash adverse events, the benefit of this compound was considered significantly diminished,” the official says. Novartis paid $100 million up front for Protez and agreed to hand over up to $300 million more in milestone payments.