Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
GSK obtained an exclusive, royalty-bearing global license (ex-Greater China/Hong Kong/Taiwan) to commercialize and further develop Brexafemme (ibrexafungerp), a first-in-class oral triterpenoid antifungal, announced March 30, 2023 and closed May 12, 2023. SCYNEXIS received $90M upfront and was eligible for up to $503M in development, regulatory and commercial milestones (incl. $245.5M tied to invasive candidiasis and $242.5M in sales milestones) plus tiered high-single-digit to high-teens royalties. The deal's economics deteriorated after a September 2023 voluntary Brexafemme recall (beta-lactam cross-contamination) and a ~19-month FDA clinical hold on the Phase 3 MARIO invasive candidiasis trial. On October 15, 2025 GSK and SCYNEXIS resolved a dispute over restarting MARIO: the study was wound down and terminated and the invasive candidiasis program discontinued, with GSK paying SCYNEXIS a $22M resolution payment plus $2.3M for wind-down activities and no further MARIO-related milestones. The license otherwise remains in effect; GSK is focused on relaunching Brexafemme for vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) and recurrent VVC, with the NDA transfer to GSK targeted for end-2025 and FDA relaunch discussions anticipated in 2026 — meaning the deal's most valuable disclosed milestone tranche is now unachievable.