Pfizer licenses tuberculosis therapy to Sequella

Pfizer has announced that it has granted exclusive worldwide rights for a new tuberculosis therapy to fellow pharmaceutical company Sequella.

The agreement will see Sequella taking sole responsibility for the ongoing development and commercialisation of sutezolid, an oxazolidinone antibiotic that has demonstrated potential efficacy in phase II testing.

It could be paired with other tuberculosis therapies, including SQ109, another developmental drug that Sequella is currently studying.

This comes as part of Pfizer's ongoing strategy of ensuring that its internal research and development resources are focused on areas where they can have the greatest possible impact.

Dr Rod MacKenzie, group senior vice-president and head of PharmaTherapeutics research and development at Pfizer, said: "Given the urgent patient need in tuberculosis, we sought a partner for sutezolid that would bring deep expertise and a strong commitment to tuberculosis patients."

This comes after the firm announced plans to expand its Irish manufacturing sites in Dublin and Cork earlier this week.