News Release

TAXIS Pharmaceuticals licenses novel antimicrobial technology from Rutgers and UMDNJ

Compounds may treat emerging drug-resistant pathogens

Business Announcement

Rutgers University

TAXIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TAXIS), Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement for worldwide rights to develop and commercialize a novel antimicrobial technology addressing multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections. The alarming rise in the number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens that have emerged and spread in recent years has dramatically reduced the utility of the current arsenal of antibiotics. Two such MDR pathogens in particular have been recognized as major threats to global public health, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). TAXIS is in the process of identifying and validating lead drug candidates that target MRSA and VRE with efficacies that are superior to current standards of therapeutic care.

"The compounds under investigation have great potential to treat a broad-spectrum of emerging, drug-resistant pathogens that represent large and growing public health and biodefense threats", said Gregory Mario, TAXIS' Chief Executive Officer. "We are excited to develop these further and move them closer to the clinic." The novel antimicrobial technology was discovered at the universities by Professors Daniel S. Pilch, Ph.D. (Department of Pharmacology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School) and Edmond J. LaVoie, Ph.D. (Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Rutgers University-Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy).

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About TAXIS Pharmaceuticals

TAXIS is a Delaware-based subchapter S corporation with operations in New Jersey that was formed in March of 2009 by the two scientific founders and the chief executive officer, Gregory G. Mario, MBA. TAXIS is focusing its current efforts on developing the azachryseniums (AZCs) as a novel class of bactericidal agents that can effectively treat infections caused by MDR bacterial pathogens For more information, please contact Gregory G. Mario: GMario@TAXISPharma.com

About Rutgers

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America's eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation's premier public research universities. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers offers more than 280 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degree programs. The university is home to 27 degree-granting schools and colleges, and more than 150 specialized centers and institutes. Rutgers research budget of nearly $400MM in FY2009 reflects the depth and breadth of research disciplines, led by 30 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine at over 200 research institutes and centers. Building on the tradition of Nobel Laureate Selman Waksman who discovered streptomycin (and over a dozen other antibiotics), Rutgers continues to be a leader in technology discovery and commercialization. For more information, please contact Thomas Richardson: thomrich@otc.rutgers.edu

About UMDNJ

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,900 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.


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