MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation antibiotics, today announced that it has filed an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China for MRX-I, its first development-stage antibiotic drug candidate. MRX-I, an orally-administered oxazolidinone, targets multi-drug resistant Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE).
"The filing of the first IND just two years since the inception of MicuRx represents a significant accomplishment for our company. This validates our hybrid business model utilizing China's abundant scientific talent and cost-effective infrastructure coupled with experienced U.S. management guiding discovery and preclinical efforts," said Zhengyu Yuan, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of MicuRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "This IND application has been accepted by the SFDA with Special Review status, and we expect to initiate a clinical trial in 2010."