Spun out of the drug discovery firm MediChem Research - also an SBIR-involved entity - in a transaction that included Advanced Life Sciences obtaining rights to patented inventions previously assigned Baxter International. Advanced Life Sciences Holdings, Inc., became a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs in the areas of infectious disease, oncology, and inflammation. An integral part of the development strategy was the licensing-in from a range of sources. projects in relevant space that fitted well the firm's capabitlies and objectives. The company had a worldwide license from Abbott Laboratories to develop and commercialize its lead candidate, cethromycin, an antibiotic that is in Phase III clinical development for the treatment of respiratory tract infections. It was also developing ALS-357, a compound for the treatment of malignant melanoma; and ALS-886, a therapeutic that is in preclinical development for the treatment of inflammation-related tissue damage, including tissue damage associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome. In addition, the company had additional product candidates in preclinical development coming from its natural products-based chemistry platform. In May 2011, the firm announced that it had suspended operations.
