Cubist wins FDA nod for antibiotic Zerbaxa

Before its acquisition of Cubist Pharmaceuticals was barely underway, Merck's 9.5bn bid for the company already has garnered it a nice payoff – the US approval on 19 December of Zerbaxa (ceftolozane/tazobactam), a new combination antibiotic intended to treat adults with complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) and complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI).