Rempex Pharmaceuticals

About Rempex Pharmaceuticals

Rempex Pharmaceuticals was a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel antibacterial drugs to combat multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacteria. Founded in 2011 by Daniel Burgess, Michael Dudley, and Jeffery Loutit, the San Diego-based company aimed to address the critical clinical need for new treatments against resistant pathogens. Daniel Burgess, who served as President and CEO, has a background in economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, with extensive executive experience in the biotech industry, including founding and leading Mpex Pharmaceuticals.

The company's development pipeline centered on combining proprietary agents with proven antibiotics to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms. Its lead investigational product was Carbavance (later known as Vabomere), a combination of the carbapenem antibiotic meropenem and vaborbactam (formerly RPX7009), a novel beta-lactamase inhibitor. This combination was designed to restore the activity of meropenem against bacteria that produce the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) enzyme, a primary mechanism of resistance and an urgent threat according to the CDC. The portfolio also included Minocin IV (minocycline), an approved treatment for infections caused by Acinetobacter, and an improved formulation called RPX-602.

In December 2013, just two years after its inception, Rempex Pharmaceuticals was acquired by The Medicines Company. The deal involved an upfront payment of $140 million, with potential for an additional $334 million in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, valuing the total transaction at up to $474 million. The acquisition provided The Medicines Company with Rempex's entire anti-infective portfolio, aiming to strengthen its hospital care franchise, particularly in treating serious infectious diseases. Carbavance, the key asset in the acquisition, was later approved by the FDA in August 2017.