Shionogi, a pharmaceutical company, agreed to acquire Qpex Biopharma, a developer of a pipeline of agents addressing critical needs for the treatment of infectious diseases, for $140m. “We are pleased to welcome Qpex into the Shionogi family. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics remains one of the biggest threats to global health, and Qpex’s pipeline, including xeruborbactam, and its capabilities will accelerate our efforts to develop new antibiotic treatments to address antimicrobial resistance. Following the close of the acquisition, Qpex will become part of Shionogi, and we will work together to comprehensively address the needs of patients and healthcare professionals and to protect society from current and emerging life-threatening bacterial infections,” Isao Teshirogi, Shionogi CEO.