Licensing In Brief

Pfizer expands anti-infective portfolio with Vicuron buy: Pfizer's $1.9 bil. acquisition of Vicuron includes the near-term antibiotic candidate dalbavancin, currently pending at FDA with a Sept. 21 user fee date . Vicuron has targeted an early 2006 launch for the once-weekly therapy for chronic skin and soft tissue infections (1Pharmaceutical Approvals Monthly May 2005, In Brief). Announced June 16, the merger builds on Pfizer's experience in the anti-infective market and extends its existing portfolio, which includes the antifungal agents Diflucan (fluconazole) and Vfend (voriconazole), and the antibiotics Zithromax (azithromycin) and Zyvox (linezolid). The Vicuron deal also gives Pfizer a new antifungal agent, anidulafungin, deemed "approvable" at FDA in May 2004. The firms' combination marks the culmination of a six-year collaboration to develop new antibiotic candidates…