Nabriva Therapeutics plc NBRV announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with the subsidiaries of pharma giant Merck MRK to sell and distribute the latter’s anti-bacterial medicine Sivextro (tedizolid phosphate) in the United States and across its certain territories. Financial terms of the deal have been kept under wraps.

Sivextro is indicated for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections caused by certain susceptible Gram-positive microorganisms in patients aged 12 years and above.

An oxazolidinone-class antibacterial drug, Sivextro was approved by the FDA in 2014 and is owned by Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck.

Per the agreement, Nabriva will be exclusively responsible for marketing, sales and distribution of Sivextro in the United States until Dec 31, 2023 with renewable three-year extensions. With this deal, the company is looking to create value for its shareholders by adding revenue-generating products to its business.

Shares of Nabriva surged more than 50% in pre-market trading following the announcement of the deal. However, the stock has plunged 49.6% so far this year against the industry’s increase of 7.8%.

Per the press release, Nabriva is also engaged with Yardley, PA-based privately held company Amplity Health to provide community-based commercial and sales services for Sivextro and its own antibiotic Xenleta (lefamulin) in the United States.

We remind investors that the FDA approved Nabriva’s new drug application (NDA) in August 2019 for both intravenous (IV) and oral formulations of Xenleta to treat adult patients with community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP).

Following this nod, Xenleta became the first IV and oral antibiotic monotherapy treatment option approved by the FDA for adults with CABP in nearly two decades. The drug is available for oral (600 mg) as well as IV (150 mg) formulations, both to be administered every 12 hours to patients with CABP for a period of five to seven days.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Nabriva currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other top-ranked stocks in the biotech sector include Emergent Biosolutions Inc. EBS, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. BMRN and Unum Therapeutics Inc. UMRX, all presently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Emergent’s earnings estimates have been revised 26.7% upward for 2020 and 29.8% for 2021 over the past 60 days. The stock has soared 81.9% year to date.

BioMarin’s earnings estimates have moved 3.3% north for 2020 and 13.4% for 2021 over the past 60 days. The stock has surged 49.9% year to date.

Unum Therapeutics’ loss per share estimates have narrowed 46% for 2020 and 82.8% for 2021 over the past 60 days. The stock has skyrocketed 299.9% year to date.

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