Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded and registered as a Delaware Corporation in 1998. The Company headquarters and R&D laboratory are located in San Diego, California, less than ten minutes away from The Scripps Research Institute.  Optimer also has one subsidiary, Optimer Biotechnology, Inc. located in Taipei, Taiwan.  We have over 60 employees, 19 of whom hold Masters, Ph.D., or M.D. degrees.  

Optimer is currently focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative hospital specialty products in diseases of unmet needs and where current therapeutic options have limitations. Our current development efforts address products that treat gastrointestinal infections and related diseases where current therapies have limitations, including diminished efficacy, serious adverse side effects, drug-to-drug interactions, difficult patient compliance and bacterial resistance. 

We have two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, Fidaxomicin and Pruvel^TM (prulifloxacin). Fidaxomicin is a narrow spectrum antibiotic being developed for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).  In two Phase 3 trials completed by Optimer to study the safety and efficacy of fidaxomicin for the treatment of CDI, fidaxomicin was statistically superior to vancomycin in global cure rate (defined as cure with no recurrence within four weeks of completing therapy) as well as statistically superior in reducing recurrences of CDI by up to 50% when compared with vancomycin, the only FDA approved product for CDI. Pruvel™ is a prodrug in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics being developed as a treatment for infectious diarrhea.  Optimer has also successfully completed two Phase 3 trials with Pruvel.

We are also developing additional product candidates using our proprietary technology, including our Optimer One-Pot Synthesis, or OPopS^TM drug discovery platform. OPopS is a computer-aided technology that enables the rapid and low-cost synthesis of a wide array of carbohydrate-based compounds.