Versicor Inc and Biosearch Italia S.p.A. announced the completion of their merger, creating a transatlantic company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and commercialization of novel antibiotic and antifungal agents for tough-to-treat infections.

The new company's stock will continue to trade under the ticker symbol VERS on the Nasdaq National Market in the United States and will begin to trade today under the ticker symbol VER on the Nuovo Mercato in Italy until a new corporate name, identity and ticker symbols are approved by the company's board of directors.

"This merger creates one of the strongest product pipelines in the biotechnology industry and worldwide ownership of our two leading product candidates: anidulafungin and dalbavancin," said George F. Horner III, president and chief executive officer of Versicor. "It also creates significant functional synergies, financial critical mass and a powerful research engine that promises to continue to improve our pipeline with important new compounds in the years ahead. With complementary distribution strategies in the United States and Europe, together we will more efficiently pursue our shared goal of bringing exciting new antibiotic and anti-fungal agents to market as soon as possible."