Cempra Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Morrisville, N.C.-based developer of anti-infective medicines, has raised $14 million in Series A funding. Intersouth Partners and I-banker Wistar Morris III co-led the deal. The company had already raised an unspecified amount of financing from angel investors.

Cempra is focused on developing drugs that can tackle bacteria, which have developed resistance to antibiotics.

As part of the deal, Intersouth’s Garheng Kong and Morris will join Cempra’s board of directors.

The company has proprietary chemistry technology related to macrolides, which are antibiotics that fight a wide range of bacterial infections. The firm’s founders have backgrounds in discovering and developing anti-infective treatments.

Cempra has already licensed a pipeline of macrolides and ketolides, which are effective against macrolide-resistant bacteria, from Optimer Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, CA. According to the company it has a number of compounds at various stages of development.

The global market for anti-infective drugs is estimated to be greater than $30 billion, according to Cempra.
  
"We believe that Cempra is positioned to make significant breakthroughs in macrolides that will serve thousands of patients every year," Kong said in a statement. "The company's proprietary chemistry platform will enable a series of macrolides previously unavailable. We're excited to be working with Cempra to develop this important class of drugs."

www.cempra.com