Prokaryotics Licenses Gram-Negative Antibiotic Potentiator from Northern Antibiotics

Union, NJ-based Prokaryotics has entered into a licensing agreement with Finnish company Northern Antibiotics that will give Prokaryotics global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a treatment currently known as NAB741, formerly SPR741 (1). NAB741 is a non-bioactive polymyxin that acts as a Gram-negative antibiotic potentiator, designed to increase the permeability of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria—therefore making those bacteria more susceptible to other antibiotics.

The agreement was reached on June 4, 2025, but Prokaryotics publicized the announcement on June 26 (1).

A promising option

“We are delighted to work with Northern Antibiotics and add NAB741 to the portfolio of first-in-class antibiotics being developed by Prokaryotics,” Terry Roemer, PhD, founder and chief scientific officer of Prokaryotics, said in a press release (1). “NAB741 demonstrates tremendous activity in enhancing efficacy, expanding spectrum, and reducing spontaneous resistance with each of our mechanistically novel antibiotic lead classes. We believe that combining NAB741 with these agents offers a powerful and de-risked strategy to develop fixed-dose combination agents effective in treating bacterial infections resistant to existing antibiotics.”

Prokaryotics was founded on Merck & Co. (known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada) out-licensed antibiotic assets under development for the treatment of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections that are life-threatening (1). AMR is considered an urgent threat to public health and has been projected to contribute to 39 million worldwide deaths by the year 2050; in 2021 alone, according to AbbVie, an estimated 1.14 million deaths were attributed to bacterial AMR (2). The World Health Organization projects that the impact of antibiotic drug resistance on human health and economic costs will eventually rival that of global warming, and in the next two to three decades, there could be a “pre-antibiotic era” in which existing antibiotics will become largely ineffective in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses (1).

Honoring a legacy

NAB741 was developed by Martti Vaara, MD, PhD, the founder of Northern Antibiotics, who died in 2021 at the age of 68 (1,3).

“Martti always believed that NAB741 is a powerful potentiator with clinical importance,” his brother, Timo Vaara, said in the release (1,3). “Its real value is not in itself, however, but in the uniqueness of its partner antibiotic. Prokaryotics is working on no less than three novel and impressively promising antibiotic lead classes, a perfect match. Martti also always stressed that it is not just about molecules but about people, too. To our collaboration, Prokaryotics has brought extensive antibiotic industry expertise, combined with young-hearted passion and determination. And above all, our partnership has developed to a friendship that is a prerequisite of any genuine progress.”

Impacts of Gram-negative bacteria

Complicated intra-abdominal infections (cIAI) are one category of illness can be caused by Gram-negative bacteria, and in February 2025, FDA approved Emblaveo (aztreonam and avibactam), an AbbVie product, as the first fixed-dose, intravenous monobactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination antibiotic in the United States, to be used in combination with metronidazole in adults with either limited or no other options for treating cIAI (2).

In a press release at that time, AbbVie identified the Gram-negative microorganisms Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Enterobacter cloacae complex, Citrobacter freundii complex, and Serratia marcescens as potential causes of cIAI, saying that such infections are “among the most challenging” for medical professionals to treat because of their high AMR (2).

References

1. Prokaryotics. Prokaryotics Announces Licensing Agreement with Northern Antibiotics for Novel Gram-negative Antibiotic Potentiator. Press Release. June 26, 2025.
2. AbbVie. US FDA Approves Emblaveo (aztreonam and avibactam) for the Treatment of Adults with Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections with Limited or No Treatment Options. Press Release. Feb. 7, 2025.
3. Northern Antibiotics. Professor Martti Vaara, MD, PhD, 29.3.1953–25.8.2021. NorthernAntibiotics.com, Aug. 25, 2021 (accessed June 26, 2025).