InterMune Inc has signed an agreement with Abbott Laboratories to provide the bulk manufacturing of oritavancin, InterMune's glycopeptide antibiotic for the treatment of Gram-positive bacterial infections. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement will provide InterMune with additional clinical supply, commercial scale-up, and production to meet significant commercial quantities after the expected launch of oritavancin in the beginning of 2005. Under the agreement, Abbott will be responsible for the technology transfer of the manufacturing process of oritavancin from Eli Lilly & Company, from which InterMune acquired worldwide rights in September 2001. Abbott will also be responsible for providing the necessary chemical manufacturing controls for InterMune's regulatory filings.

"As a world-class manufacturer and leading producer of another glycopeptide antibiotic, vancomycin, Abbott will bring extensive experience producing oritavancin, a second generation glycopeptide, on a scale for worldwide supply," said Peter VanVlasselaer, Senior Vice President of Technical Operations for InterMune. "We are extremely pleased to have Abbott's partnership and commitment to meet our capacity needs for oritavancin as we advance the development and prepare to meet a global market need that could be $250 million to $500 million in annual product sales."

Oritavancin is in advanced-stage development for the treatment of a broad range of Gram-positive bacterial infections including those resistant to conventional antibiotics. Its novel mechanism of action kills harmful and resistant strains of bacteria, unlike many other agents that merely suppress them. InterMune recently reported results of a Phase III clinical trial demonstrating that oritavancin cut the treatment time in half for complicated skin and skin-structure infections (CSSIs) versus current standard therapy of vancomycin plus cephalexin.