Chennai, Sep 12 (IANS) City based Orchid Pharma Ltd has inked an agreement with the Global Antibiotic Research & Development Partnership (GARDP) to manufacture antibiotic cefiderocol.

According to Orchid Pharma, it has signed a sublicense agreement to manufacture cefiderocol, an antibiotic to treat certain Gram-negative infections.

Created by the World Health Organisation (WHO) GARDP is a Swiss not-for-profit organisation developing new treatments for drug-resistant infections that pose the greatest threat to health.

The agreement is a critical step in an ambitious project by Shionogi & Co. Ltd. (Shionogi), GARDP, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) that aims to provide access to cefiderocol, in a number of predominantly low- and middle- income countries, Orchid Pharma said.

The licensing agreement signed between Shionogi and GARDP in June 2022 enables GARDP to make cefiderocol available in 135 countries (about 70% of countries worldwide, including those with the highest anti-microbial resistance -AMR burden), none of which currently has access.

Based on these agreements, CHAI will facilitate the technology transfer process between Shionogi and Orchid Pharma. Shionogi will convey essential information for the manufacture of cefiderocol to Orchid Pharma.

Cefiderocol was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2019 and the European Medicines Agency in 2020, and it is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines.

“We are proud to work with Shionogi, GARDP, and CHAI to provide a global solution to access an important antibiotic for areas of need,” said Manish Dhanuka, Managing Director of Orchid Pharma, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cephalosporin antibiotics.

“Our decades-long expertise in cephalosporins will be advantageous in manufacturing affordable and quality-assured cefiderocol. This will address the unmet needs of patients across low- and middle-income countries where antimicrobial resistance is spreading,” Dhanuka added.