UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2009

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 001-33291

OPTIMER PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware		33-0830300
(State or other jurisdiction of		(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)		Identification No.)

10110 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite C
San Diego, CA 92121
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(858) 909-0736
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days: Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files): Yes o No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

Large accelerated filer o		Accelerated filer x

Non-accelerated filer o		Smaller reporting company o
(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act): Yes o No x

The number of shares of the registrant’s Common Stock, no par value, outstanding as of May 1, 2009 was 33,070,903 shares.

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PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

	March 31,			December 31,
	2009			2008
	(unaudited)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	46,788,899		$	16,778,880
Short-term investments	15,794,624			22,547,515
Research grant and contract receivables	83,012			211,299
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	599,407			533,371
Total current assets	63,265,942			40,071,065
Restricted cash	170,000			170,000
Property and equipment, net	667,100			694,183
Long-term investments	982,000			1,032,000
Other assets	327,197			328,250
Total assets	$	65,412,239		$	42,295,498

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	4,049,160		$	3,767,831
Accrued expenses	4,152,398			4,045,660
Total current liabilities	8,201,558			7,813,491
Deferred rent	268,166			251,504
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, par value $0.001, 10,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and oustanding at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008, respectively	—			—
Common stock, $0.001 par value, 75,000,000 shares authorized, 33,050,751 shares and 29,716,751 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008 respectively	33,051			29,717
Additional paid-in capital	201,134,990			167,544,806
Accumulated other comprehensive income	43,970			38,088
Accumulated deficit	(144,269,496		)	(133,382,108		)
Total stockholders’ equity	56,942,515			34,230,503

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	65,412,239		$	42,295,498

See accompanying notes.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2009			2008

Revenues:
Research grants	$	83,012		$	486,666
Operating expenses:
Research and development	8,798,582			6,905,376
Marketing	310,286			365,568
General and administrative	2,048,500			1,737,051
Total operating expenses	11,157,368			9,007,995
Loss from operations	(11,074,356		)	(8,521,329		)
Interest income and other, net	186,968			581,284
Net loss	$	(10,887,388	)	$	(7,940,045	)

Basic and diluted net loss per share	$	(0.36	)	$	(0.28	)
Shares used to compute basic and diluted net loss per share	30,535,577			27,869,675

See accompanying notes.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2009			2008

Operating activities
Net loss	$	(10,887,388	)	$	(7,940,045	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization	60,296			54,892
Stock based compensation	638,155			429,678
Deferred rent	16,662			(8,171		)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaids expenses and other current assets	(66,036		)	(409,820		)
Research grant and contract receivables	128,287			(391,482		)
Other assets	1,053			(1,896		)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	388,067			330,078
Net cash used in operating activities	(9,720,904		)	(7,936,766		)

Investing activities
Purchases of short-term investments	(5,456,593		)	(13,001,529		)
Sales or maturity of short-term investments	12,272,000			36,475,000
Purchases of property and equipment	(33,213		)	(30,594		)
Net cash provided by investing activities	6,782,194			23,442,877

Financing activities
Proceeds from sale of common stock	32,955,363			21,396
Net cash provided by financing activities	32,955,363			21,396
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(6,634		)	9,229
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents	30,010,019			15,536,736
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	16,778,880			3,191,814
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	46,788,899		$	18,728,550

See accompanying notes.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited)

1. Interim Financial Information

Organization and Business Activities

Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Optimer” or the “Company”) was incorporated in Delaware on November 18, 1998. The Company has one wholly owned subsidiary, Optimer Biotechnology, Inc., which is incorporated and located in Taiwan.

Optimer is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing anti-infective products. The Company currently has two anti-infective product candidates, fidaxomicin, for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-infection, and prulifloxacin, for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. The Company is developing additional product candidates using its proprietary technology, including its OPopS™ drug discovery platform.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation of the results of these interim periods have been included. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2009 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 12, 2009.

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments

Investments with original maturities of less than 90 days at the date of purchase are considered to be cash equivalents. All other investments are classified as short-term investments which are deemed by management to be available-for-sale and are reported at fair value with net unrealized gains or losses reported within other comprehensive loss in the consolidated statement of stockholders’ equity. Realized gains and losses, and declines in value judged to be other than temporary, are included in investment income or interest expense. The cost of securities sold is computed using the specific identification method.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

Auction rate preferred securities are classified as noncurrent available-for-sale securities in the consolidated balance sheet because of the Company’s intent and ability to hold these securities until the market for auction rate preferred securities returns or until the issuer refinances the underlying security.

Revenue Recognition

The Company’s license and collaboration agreements contain multiple elements, including non-refundable upfront fees, payments for reimbursement of third-party research costs, payments for ongoing research, payments associated with achieving specific development milestones and royalties based on specified percentages of net product sales, if any. The Company applies the revenue recognition criteria outlined in Staff Accounting Bulletin (“SAB”), No. 104, Revenue Recognition and Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) Issue 00-21, Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables (“EITF 00-21”). In applying these revenue recognition criteria, the Company considers a variety of factors in determining the appropriate method of revenue recognition under these arrangements, such as whether the elements are separable, whether there are determinable fair values and whether there is a unique earnings process associated with each element of a contract.

Cash received in advance of services being performed is recorded as deferred revenue and recognized as revenue as services are performed over the applicable term of the agreement.

When a payment is specifically tied to a separate earnings process, revenues are recognized when the specific performance obligation associated with the payment is completed. Performance obligations typically consist of significant and substantive milestones pursuant to the related agreement. Revenues from milestone payments may be considered separable from funding for research services because of the uncertainty surrounding the achievement of milestones for products in early stages of development. Accordingly, these payments are allowed to be recognized as revenue if and when the performance milestone is achieved if they represent a separate earnings process as described in EITF 00-21.

In connection with certain research collaboration agreements, revenues are recognized from non-refundable upfront fees, which the Company does not believe are specifically tied to a separate earnings process, ratably over the term of the agreement. Research fees are recognized as revenue as the related research activities are performed.

Revenues derived from reimbursement of direct out-of-pocket expenses for research costs associated with grants are recorded in compliance with EITF Issue 99-19, Reporting Revenue Gross as a Principal Versus Net as an Agent, and EITF Issue 01-14, Income Statement Characterization of Reimbursements Received for “Out-of-Pocket” Expenses Incurred. According to the criteria established by these EITF Issues, in transactions where the Company acts as a principal, with discretion to choose suppliers, bears credit risk and performs part of the services required in the transaction, the Company records revenue for the gross amount of the reimbursement. The costs associated with these reimbursements are reflected as a component of research and development expense in the consolidated statements of operations.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

None of the payments that the Company has received from collaborators to date, whether recognized as revenue or deferred, are refundable even if the related program is not successful.

Research and Development Expenses

The Company accounts for research and development costs in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (“SFAS”) No. 2, Accounting for Research and Development Costs (“SFAS No. 2”). SFAS No. 2 specifies that research and development costs should be charged to expense until technological feasibility has been established for the product. Once technological feasibility is established, all product costs should be capitalized until the product is available for general release to customers. The Company has determined that technological feasibility for its product candidates will be reached when the requisite regulatory approvals are obtained to make the product available for sale, which, in the United States, generally occurs upon the approval of the new drug application (“NDA”) for such product. The Company’s research and development expenses consist primarily of license fees, salaries and related employee benefits, costs associated with clinical trials managed by the Company’s contract research organizations and costs associated with non-clinical activities and regulatory approvals. The Company uses external service providers and vendors to conduct clinical trials, to manufacture supplies of product candidates to be used in clinical trials and to provide various other research and development-related products and services.

When nonrefundable payments for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are made, the Company applies the criteria outlined in EITF Issue 07-3, Accounting for Non-Refundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services to be Used in Future Research and Development Activities (“EITF 07-3”). In accordance with EITF 07-3, these types of payments are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are expensed when the related goods are delivered or the services are performed.

Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The Company has applied SFAS No. 130, Reporting Comprehensive Income, which requires that all components of comprehensive income (loss), including net income (loss), be reported in the financial statements in the period in which they are recognized. Comprehensive income (loss) is defined as the change in equity during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources. Net income (loss) and other comprehensive income (loss), including foreign currency translation adjustments and unrealized gains and losses on investments, is required to be reported, net of their related tax effect, to arrive at comprehensive income (loss). The Company’s comprehensive loss was $10.9 million and $7.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

Net Loss Per Share

The Company computes net loss per share in accordance with SFAS No. 128, Earnings per Share (“SFAS No.128”). Under the provisions of SFAS No.128, basic net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

weighted-average number of common shares and dilutive common share equivalents then outstanding. Common equivalent shares consist of common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options and warrants. Since the Company has a net loss for all periods presented, the effect of all potentially dilutive securities is anti-dilutive. Accordingly, basic and diluted net loss per share is the same for all periods presented.

As of March 31, 2009 and 2008, common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options and warrants totaling 2,401,807 and 1,992,272 shares, respectively, were excluded from the calculation, as their effect would have been antidilutive.

Income Taxes

The Company adopted FASB issued Financial Interpretation No. 48 (“FIN 48”), Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes — An Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109 on January 1, 2007 which clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an entity’s financial statements in accordance with SFAS No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes, and prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attributes for financial statement disclosure of tax positions taken or expected to be taken on a tax return. The impact of an uncertain income tax position on the income tax return must be recognized at the largest amount that is more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon audit by the relevant taxing authority. An uncertain income tax position will not be recognized if it has less than a 50% likelihood of being sustained. Additionally, FIN 48 provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In April 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued the following new accounting standards:

FASB Staff Position FAS 157-4, Determining Whether a Market Is Not Active and a Transaction Is Not Distressed (“FSP FAS 157-4”) provides guidelines for making fair value measurements more consistent with the principles presented in SFAS 157. FSP FAS 157-4 provides additional authoritative guidance in determining whether a market is active or inactive, and whether a transaction is distressed, is applicable to all assets and liabilities (i.e. financial and nonfinancial) and will require enhanced disclosures.

FASB Staff Positions FAS 115-2, FAS 124-2, and EITF 99-20-2, Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments (“FSP FAS 115-2, FAS 124-2, and EITF 99-20-2”), provides additional guidance regarding the credit and noncredit components of an other-than-temporary impairment event, and how to more effectively communicate when an other-than-temporary impairment event has occurred. FSP FAS 115-2, FAS 124-2 and EITF 99-20-2 applies to debt securities.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

FASB Staff Position FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1, Interim Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments (“FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1”) amends FASB Statement No. 107, Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments, to require disclosures about the fair value of financial instruments in interim as well as annual financial statements. FSP FAS 107-1 and APB 28-1 also amends APB Opinion No. 28, Interim Financial Reporting, to require those disclosures in all interim financial statements.

These standards are effective for periods ending after June 15, 2009. We are evaluating the impact that these standards will have on our financial statements, if any.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

Effective January 1, 2009, the Company adopted the following FASB accounting standards:

SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements — An Amendment of ARB No. 51 (“SFAS No. 160”). SFAS No. 160 requires the recognition of a noncontrolling interest, sometimes called a minority interest, as equity in the consolidated financial statements and separate from the parent’s equity. The amount of net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest is included in consolidated net income on the face of the income statement. SFAS No. 160 clarifies that changes in a parent’s ownership interest in a subsidiary that do not result in deconsolidation are equity transactions if the parent retains its controlling financial interest. In addition, this statement requires that a parent recognize a gain or loss in net income when a subsidiary is deconsolidated. Such gain or loss is measured using the fair value of the noncontrolling equity investment on the deconsolidation date. SFAS No. 160 also includes expanded disclosure requirements regarding the interests of the parent and its noncontrolling interest. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, cash flows, or results of operations.

FASB Statement 141 (revised 2007), “Business Combinations” (“SFAS 141(R)”) and FAS 141(R)-1 which amends and clarifies SFAS 141(R). SFAS 141(R) establishes principles and requirements for how an acquirer recognizes and measures in its financial statements the identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed, any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree and the goodwill acquired in connection with business combinations. SFAS 141(R) also establishes disclosure requirements to enable the evaluation of the nature and financial effects of the business combination. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, cash flows, or results of operations.

SFAS No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133. This new standard requires enhanced disclosures for derivative instruments, including those used in hedging activities. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, cash flows, or results of operations.

FASB Staff Position FAS 142-3, Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets (“FSP FAS 142-3”). FSP FAS 142-3 amends the factors that should be considered in developing renewal or extension assumptions used to determine the useful life of a recognized intangible asset under FASB Statement No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, cash flows, or results of operations.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

3. Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The following table summarizes the Company’s assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis subject to the disclosure requirements of SFAS 157 as of March 31, 2009:

	Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
Cash and cash equivalents	$	46,788,899	$	—	$	—	$	46,788,899
Marketable securities	15,794,624		—		—		15,794,624
Auction rate securities	—		—		982,000		982,000

Level 1:		Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities; or

Level 2:		Quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, or observable inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities; or

Level 3:		Unobservable inputs.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis using Level 3 inputs is as follows:

	Auction Rate Preferred Securities
Beginning balance at January 1, 2009	$	1,032,000
Total gains and losses:
Realized net income	—
Unrealized in accumulated other comprehensive income	—
Purchases, sales, issuances and settlements	—
Transfers in (out) of Level 3	(50,000		)
Ending balance at March 31, 2009	$	982,000
Change in unrealized gains (losses) included in net income related to assets still held	$	—

All of the Company’s investments in available-for-sale securities are recorded at fair value based on quoted market prices. As of March 31, 2009, the Company held two auction rate preferred securities valued at $982,000 in the aggregate with perpetual maturity dates that reset every 28 days. Since February 2008, the auctions for these securities have failed. Although these auction rate preferred securities continue to pay interest according to their stated terms, the market in such securities continues to be illiquid and the decline in value was judged to be other than temporary. Based on valuation models on the individual securities, the Company has previously recognized in the consolidated statement of operations an unrealized loss of approximately $118,000 in investment income. These securities have been classified as long-term investments on the consolidated balance sheets as the Company does not believe it could liquidate the securities in the near term.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

4. Short-Term Investments

The following is a summary of the Company’s investment securities, all of which are classified as available-for-sale. Determination of estimated fair value is based upon quoted market prices as of the dates presented.

	March 31, 2009
	Gross Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Market Value
Commercial paper	$	2,495,848	$	938	$	—		$	2,496,786
Corporate debt securities	3,646,928		2,988		(10,379		)	3,639,537
U.S. securities and other government obligations	9,644,707		15,297		(1,703		)	9,658,301
Total	$	15,787,483	$	19,223	$	(12,082	)	$	15,794,624

	December 31, 2008
	Gross Amortized Cost		Gross Unrealized Gains		Gross Unrealized Losses			Market Value
Corporate debt securities	$	13,464,268	$	3,089	$	(49,257	)	$	13,418,100
Foreign debt securities	1,503,901		5,824		—			1,509,725
Government debt securities	7,584,720		37,106		(2,136		)	7,619,690
Total	$	22,552,889	$	46,019	$	(51,393	)	$	22,547,515

Investments in net unrealized loss positions as of March 31, 2009 are as follows:

		Less Than 12 Months of Temporary Impairment					Greater Than 12 Months of Temporary Impairment				Total Temporary Impairment
	Number of Investments	Fair Value		Unrealized Losses			Fair Value		Unrealized Losses		Fair Value		Unrealized Losses
Corporate debt securities	3	$	1,828,413	$	(10,379	)	$	—	$	—	$	1,828,413	$	(10,379	)
U.S. securities and other government obligations	3	2,495,493		(1,703		)	—		—		2,495,493		(1,703		)
Total	6	$	4,323,906	$	(12,082	)	$	—	$	—	$	4,323,906	$	(12,082	)

The Company considered a number of factors to determine whether the decline in value in its investments is other than temporary, including the length of time and the extent to which the market value has been less than cost, the financial condition of the issuer and the Company’s intent to hold and ability to retain these short-term investments. Based on these factors, the Company believes that the decline in value is temporary and primarily related to the change in market interest rates since purchase. The Company anticipates that it will fully recover the amortized cost with respect to these securities at maturity or sooner in the event of a change in the market interest rate environment.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

5. Stock Based Compensation

The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options, which have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable. In addition, the Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires the input of subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility. The following table shows the assumptions used to compute stock-based compensation expense for the stock options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, using the Black-Scholes option pricing model:

	Three months ended March 31,
	2009		2008
Risk-free interest rate	2.00	%	2.96	%
Dividend yield	0.00	%	0.00	%
Expected life of options (years)	5.27-6.08		6.02-6.08
Volatility	69.93	%	64.95	%

The risk-free interest rate assumption was based on the United States Treasury’s rates for U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with maturities similar to those of the expected term of the award being valued. The assumed dividend yield was based on the Company’s expectation of not paying dividends in the foreseeable future. The weighted-average expected life of options was calculated using the simplified method as prescribed SAB No. 107, Share-Based Payment (“SAB No. 107”). This decision was based on the lack of relevant historical data due to the Company’s limited history. In addition, due to the Company’s limited historical data, the estimated volatility also reflects the application of SAB No. 107, incorporating the historical volatility of comparable companies whose share prices are publicly available.

Based on these assumptions, the weighted-average grant-date fair value of stock options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2009 was $6.82 per share.

As of March 31, 2009, the total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock options was approximately $5,762,017 and the related weighted-average period over which it is expected to be recognized is approximately 3.0 years.

Total stock-based compensation expense, related to all of the Company’s stock options, stock awards and employee stock purchases, recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was comprised as follows:

	Three months ended March 31,
	2009		2008
Research and development	$	226,847	$	110,547
Marketing	93,175		78,484
General and administrative	318,133		240,647
Stock-based compensation expense	$	638,155	$	429,678

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

6. Stockholders’ Equity

Stock Options

In November 1998, the Company adopted the 1998 Stock Plan (“1998 Plan”). The Company terminated and ceased granting options under the 1998 Plan upon the effectiveness of the Company’s initial public offering in February 2007.

In December 2006, the Company’s board of directors approved the 2006 Equity Incentive Plan (“2006 Plan”). The 2006 Plan became effective upon the effectiveness of the Company’s initial public offering. The Company initially reserved a total of 2,000,000 shares of its common stock for issuance pursuant to the 2006 Plan. The 2006 Plan provides for annual increases in the number of shares available for issuance thereunder on the first day of each fiscal year, beginning with the Company’s 2008 fiscal year, equal to the lesser of (i) 5% of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year; (ii) 750,000 shares; or (iii) such other amount as the board of directors may determine. As of March 31, 2009, a total of 3,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock had been reserved for issuance under the 2006 Plan.

Options granted under both the 1998 Plan and the 2006 Plan generally expire no later than ten years from the date of grant (five years for a 10% stockholder) and vest over a period of four years. The exercise price of options granted must at least be equal to the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. The 2006 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors. In September 2008, the Company’s board of directors established a New Hire Stock Option Committee consisting of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, with authority to grant options to newly-hired non-executive employees within pre-determined limits.

Following is a summary of stock option activity for the three months ended March 31, 2009:

	Options		Weighted- Average Exercise Price
Balance as of December 31, 2008	1,979,660		$	3.64
Granted	518,250		$	10.78
Exercised	(81,633	)	$	1.02
Canceled	(14,470	)	$	8.50
Balance as of March 31, 2009	2,401,807		$	5.24

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

As of March 31, 2009, options were outstanding under the 1998 Plan and the 2006 Plan as follows:

	March 31, 2009
	Options Outstanding				Options Exercisable
Exercise Price	Number Outstanding	Weighted- Average Remaining Contractual Life (in years)	Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Number Exercisable	Weighted- Average Exercise Price
$0.22 - $1.08	851,380	4.66	$	0.90	835,836	$	0.89
$2.17 - $6.90	708,927	8.13	$	4.68	318,314	$	3.67
$7.10 - $10.75	678,000	9.07	$	9.92	146,286	$	9.20
$10.78 - $10.86	163,500	9.90	$	10.85	1,117	$	10.85
$0.22 - $10.86	2,401,807	7.28	$	5.24	1,301,553	$	2.51

Of the options outstanding, options to purchase 1,301,553 shares were vested as of March 31, 2009, with a weighted-average remaining contractual life of 5.8 years and a weighted-average exercise price of $2.51 per share, while options to purchase 1,100,254 shares were unvested.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Concurrent with the Company’s initial public offering in February 2007, the Company’s board of directors adopted the employee stock purchase plan (“ESPP”) in December 2006, and the stockholders approved the plan in January 2007. A total of 200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were initially made available for sale under the plan. The ESPP provides for annual increases in the number of shares available for issuance on the first day of each fiscal year, beginning with the Company’s 2008 fiscal year, equal to the lesser of (i) 3% of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year; (ii) 300,000 shares; or (iii) such other amount as may be determined by the Company’s board of directors. As of March 31, 2009, a total of 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock had been reserved for issuance under the ESPP.

Offering periods under the ESPP commence on the first trading day on or after May 15 and November 15 of each year. As of March 31, 2009, 70,409 shares of Company’s common stock had been issued and 429,591 shares were available for issuance under the ESPP.

During the three months ended March 31, 2009, the Company recorded stock-based compensation expense of approximately $42,975 related to the ESPP.

Warrants

In connection with the registered direct offering which occurred in March 2009, the Company sold a total of 3.3 million shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 91,533 shares of its common stock. The warrants are exercisable six months after March 9, 2009, the date of issuance, and will expire five years from March 9, 2009.

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

7. Revenue and Other Collaborative Agreements

Revenues from Research Grants

The Company has received several research grants from U.S. government agencies since 2003, all of which except for one were completed on or prior to March 31, 2009. The active grant was awarded from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (“NIAID”) in September 2007. This grant is renewable for $1 million each year until August 2010, up to a maximum of $3 million. The award is being used to conduct supplementary studies to the ongoing fidaxomicin trials to confirm narrow spectrum activity and potency of fidaxomicin against hypervirulent epidemic strains, to support additional toxicology and microbiological studies to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the fidaxomicin compound and its major metabolite in CDI patients and to support a surveillance study of C. difficile isolates across North America to compare activity of fidaxomicin with existing CDI treatments. For the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, the Company recognized revenues related to research grants of $83,012, and $486,666, respectively.

Other Collaborative Agreements

The Company holds worldwide rights to fidaxomicin. In February 2007, the Company repurchased the rights to develop and commercialize fidaxomicin in North America and Israel from Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Par”) under a prospective buy-back agreement. The Company is also obligated to pay Par a one-time $5.0 million milestone payment, a potential $3.0 million prepayment to Biocon Limited (“Biocon”), subject to future set-offs, a 5% royalty on net sales by the Company, its affiliates or its licensees of fidaxomicin in North America and Israel, and a 1.5% royalty on net sales by the Company or its affiliates of fidaxomicin in the rest of the world. The one-time $5.0 million milestone payment is required to be paid after the earliest to occur of (i) the successful completion by the Company of its second pivotal Phase 3 trial for fidaxomicin, (ii) the Company’s grant to a third party of the rights to fidaxomicin or (iii) the submission to the FDA of an NDA for fidaxomicin. In addition, in the event the Company licenses its right to market fidaxomicin in the rest of the world, the Company will be required to pay Par a 6.25% royalty on net revenues received by it related to fidaxomicin. The Company is obligated to pay each of these royalties, if any, on a country-by-country basis for seven years commencing on the applicable commercial launch in each such country.

In March 2006, the Company entered into a collaborative research and development and license agreement with Cempra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Cempra”). The Company granted to Cempra an exclusive worldwide license, except in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) countries, with the right to sublicense, the Company’s patent and know-how related to the Company’s macrolide and ketolide antibacterial program. As partial consideration for granting Cempra the licenses, the Company obtained equity of Cempra and the Company assigned no value to such equity. The Company may receive milestone payments as product candidates are developed and/or co-developed by Cempra, in addition to milestone payments based on certain sublicense revenue. The aggregate potential amount of such milestone payments is not capped and, based in part on the number of products developed under the agreement, may exceed $24.5

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

million. The Company will also receive royalty payments based on a percentage of net sales of licensed products. The milestone payments will be triggered upon the completion of certain clinical development milestones and in certain instances, regulatory approval of products. In consideration of the foregoing, Cempra may receive milestone payments from the Company in the amount of $1.0 million for each of the first two products the Company develops which receive regulatory approval in ASEAN countries, as well as royalty payments on the net sales of such products. The research term of the agreement was completed in March 2008. Subject to certain exceptions, on a country-by-country basis, the general terms of this agreement continue until the later of: (i) the expiration of the last to expire patent rights of a covered product in the applicable country or (ii) ten years from the first commercial sale of a covered product in the applicable country. Either party may terminate the agreement in the event of a material breach by the other party, subject to prior notice and the opportunity to cure. Either party may also terminate the agreement for any reason upon 30 days’ prior written notice provided that all licenses granted by the terminating party to the non-terminating party will survive upon the express election of the non-terminating party.

In June 2004, the Company entered into a license agreement with Nippon Shinyaku, Co., Ltd. (“Nippon Shinyaku”). Under the terms of the agreement, the Company acquired the non-exclusive right to import and purchase prulifloxacin, and the exclusive right (with the right to sublicense), within the United States, to develop, make, use, offer to sell, sell and license products suitable for consumption by humans containing prulifloxacin. Under this agreement, the Company paid Nippon Shinyaku an up-front fee in the amount of $1.0 million and will be required to make one future milestone payment in the amount of $1.0 million upon filing, if any, its first NDA for prulifloxacin in the United States. Under the agreement, the Company pays Nippon Shinyaku for certain materials. If Nippon Shinyaku is unable to supply the Company with the contracted amount of prulifloxacin, then Nippon Shinyaku is obligated to grant the Company a non-exclusive, worldwide license to make or have made prulifloxacin, in which event the Company will owe Nippon Shinyaku a royalty based on the amount of net sales of prulifloxacin generated by the Company and the Company’s subsidiary. Additionally, the Company will owe Nippon Shinyaku certain royalties based on the amount of net sales of prulifloxacin less the amount of prulifloxacin the Company buys from Nippon Shinyaku. Either party may terminate the agreement 60 days after giving notice of a material breach which remains uncured 60 days after written notice. If not terminated earlier, the agreement will terminate upon the later of ten years from the date of the first commercial sale of prulifloxacin in the United States or the date on which the last valid patent claim relating to prulifloxacin expires in the United States.

In July 2002, the Company entered into a license agreement with Sloan-Kettering Institute (“SKI”) to acquire, together with certain nonexclusive licenses, exclusive, worldwide licensing and sublicensing rights to certain patented and patent-pending carbohydrate-based cancer immunotherapies. As partial consideration for the licensing rights, the Company paid to SKI a one-time fee consisting of both cash and 55,383 shares of its common stock. Under the agreement, which was amended in June 2005, the Company owes SKI milestone payments in the following amounts for each licensed product: (i) $500,000 upon the commencement of Phase 3 clinical studies, (ii) $750,000 upon the filing of the first NDA, (iii) $1.5 million upon obtaining

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Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (continued)

(unaudited)

marketing approval in the United States and (iv) $1.0 million upon obtaining marketing approval in each and any of Japan and certain European countries, but only to the extent that the Company, and not a sublicensee, achieves such milestones. The Company may also owe SKI royalties based on net sales generated from the licensed products and income the Company receives from its sublicensing activities, which royalty payments are credited against a minimum annual royalty payment the Company may owe to SKI during the term of the agreement. The term of the agreement continues until the later of July 31, 2017, or the expiration of the last to expire of the patents licensed under this agreement, unless the agreement is earlier terminated. The agreement can be terminated by SKI for a variety of reasons, including (i) upon 60 days’ notice in the event the Company fails to meet a development milestone specified in the agreement or (ii) upon 30 days’ notice, in the event the Company fails to pay any licensing fees, royalties or patent expenses due under the agreement within 30 days of the due date and thereafter fails to pay such deficit in-full within the 30-day notice period.

In July 1999, the Company acquired exclusive, worldwide rights to its OPopS technology from the Scripps Research Institute (“TSRI”). This agreement includes the license to the Company of patents, patent applications and copyrights related to OPopS technology. The Company also acquired, pursuant to three separate license agreements with TSRI, exclusive, worldwide rights to over 20 TSRI patents and patent applications related to other potential drug compounds and technologies, including HIV/FIV protease inhibitors, aminoglycoside antibiotics, polysialytransferase, selectin inhibitors, nucleic acid binders, carbohydrate mimetics and osteoarthritis. Under the four agreements, the Company paid TSRI license fees consisting of an aggregate of 239,996 shares of its common stock with a deemed aggregate fair market value of $46,400, as determined on the dates of each such payment. Additionally, under each agreement, the Company may owe TSRI royalties based on net sales by the Company, its affiliates and sublicensees of the covered products and royalties based on revenue the Company generates from sublicenses granted pursuant to the agreements. For the first licensed product under each of the four agreements, the Company will also owe TSRI payments upon achievement of certain milestones. In three of the four TSRI agreements, the milestones are the initiation of a Phase 2 trial or its foreign equivalent, the filing of an NDA or its foreign equivalent and government marketing and distribution approval. In the remaining TSRI agreement, the milestones are the successful completion of a Phase 3 trial or its foreign equivalent, the filing of an NDA or its foreign equivalent and government marketing and distribution approval. The aggregate potential amount of milestone payments the Company may be required to pay TSRI under all four TSRI agreements is approximately $14.0 million. Each TSRI agreement terminates in part as follows: (i) with respect to each product which utilizes patent rights licensed under the agreement, on a country-by-country basis concurrently with the expiration of the last to expire of the applicable patent rights, (ii) with respect to each product which utilizes technology licensed under the agreement but which does not utilize patent rights also licensed thereunder, 15 years after the date of the first commercial sale of the product in each country and (iii) with respect to software licensed under the 1999 OPopS agreement, 75 years after the date the applicable copyright is filed in the United States.

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this report, as well as the audited financial statements and accompanying notes included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. This discussion and other parts of this report may contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report.

Overview

We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative anti-infective products. Our current development efforts are focused on products that treat gastrointestinal infections, and related diseases where current therapies have limitations, including limited efficacy, serious adverse side effects, drug-to-drug interactions, difficult patient compliance and bacterial resistance

We currently have two late-stage anti-infective product candidates, fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin.

Fidaxomicin, our lead product candidate, is an antibiotic currently in its second Phase 3 registration trial for the treatment of Clostridium difficile-infection, or CDI, the most common nosocomial, or hospital acquired, diarrhea. In November 2008, we reported positive data from the first fidaxomicin Phase 3 trial, the largest single comparative study ever conducted against Vancocin. The top-line analysis of data from this trial showed that fidaxomicin achieved the primary endpoint of clinical cure and demonstrated a significantly lower recurrence rate compared to Vancocin, the only FDA-approved antibiotic for the treatment of CDI. Fidaxomicin was also well-tolerated in the trial. The second fidaxomicin Phase 3 trial is on-going and we anticipate completing enrollment and reporting data from this trial in 2009. We currently hold worldwide rights to fidaxomicin.

Prulifloxacin is a prodrug in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, a widely-used class of broad-spectrum antibiotics. We are developing prulifloxacin as a treatment for infectious diarrhea in travelers. In July 2008, we reported positive top-line data from the first Phase 3 trial conducted in Mexico and Peru and in February 2009, we reported positive top-line data from the second Phase 3 trial conducted in India, Guatemala and Mexico. The top-line analysis of data from these studies showed that prulifloxacin met the primary endpoint of TLUS compared to placebo. We intend to conduct a Phase 4 trial of prulifloxacin subsequent to the NDA submission to compare prulifloxacin to ciprofloxacin for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. We plan to initially seek approval for prulifloxacin for the treatment of infectious diarrhea in travelers.

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We are developing additional product candidates using our proprietary technology, including our Optimer One-Pot Synthesis, or OPopS™ 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. Two components of the OPopS technology that allow us to synthesize new compounds are GlycoOptimization and De Novo Glycosylation. These technologies are capable of rapidly generating drug candidates for broad therapeutic application. One of the more advanced OPopS product candidates is OPT-88, a disease-modifying intra-articular, or within the cavity of a joint, therapy for osteoarthritis. We plan to submit an Investigational New Drug application in 2009 and subsequently to, either ourselves or with a partner, initiate a Phase 1 study to assess safety of repetitive intra-articular injections of OPT-88 in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

We also acquired exclusive rights from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to develop and commercialize OPT-822, a novel carbohydrate-based cancer immunotherapy. We plan to seek a partner and initiate Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer in Asia in 2009.

We were incorporated in November 1998. Since inception, we have focused on developing our product candidates, including fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. We have never been profitable and have incurred significant net losses since our inception. As of March 31, 2009, we had an accumulated deficit of $144.3 million. These losses have resulted principally from costs incurred in connection with research and development activities, including the costs of clinical trial activities associated with our current lead product candidates, license fees and general and administrative expenses. We expect to continue to incur operating losses for the next several years as we pursue the clinical development and commercialization of our product candidates, as well as acquire or in-license additional products or product candidates, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our own.

Critical Accounting Policies

Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of our Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, expenses and related disclosures. Actual results could differ from those estimates. While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 2 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements appearing elsewhere in this report, we believe the following accounting policies to be critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

Our license and collaboration agreements contain multiple elements, including non-refundable upfront fees, payments for reimbursement of third-party research costs, payments for ongoing research, payments associated with achieving specific development milestones and royalties based on specified percentages of net product sales, if any. We apply the revenue recognition criteria outlined in Staff Accounting Bulletin, or SAB, No. 104, Revenue Recognition and Emerging Issues Task Force, or EITF, Issue 00-21, Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables, or EITF 00-21. In applying these revenue recognition criteria, we consider a variety of factors in determining the appropriate method of revenue recognition under these arrangements, such as whether the elements are separable, whether there are determinable fair values and whether there is a unique earnings process associated with each element of a contract.

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Cash received in advance of services being performed is recorded as deferred revenue and recognized as revenue as services are performed over the applicable term of the agreement.

When a payment is specifically tied to a separate earnings process, revenues are recognized when the specific performance obligation associated with the payment is completed. Performance obligations typically consist of significant and substantive milestones. Revenues from milestone payments may be considered separable from funding for research services because of the uncertainty surrounding the achievement of milestones for products in early stages of development. Accordingly, these milestone payments are allowed to be recognized as revenue if and when the performance milestone is achieved if they represent a substantive earnings process as described in EITF 00-21.

In connection with certain research collaboration agreements, revenues are recognized from non-refundable upfront fees, which we do not believe are specifically tied to a separate earnings process, ratably over the term of the agreement or the period over which we have significant involvement or perform services. Research fees are recognized as revenue as the related research activities are performed.

Revenues derived from reimbursement of direct out-of-pocket expenses for research costs associated with grants are recorded in compliance with EITF Issue 99-19, Reporting Revenue Gross as a Principal Versus Net as an Agent, and EITF Issue 01-14, Income Statement Characterization of Reimbursements Received for “Out-of-Pocket” Expenses Incurred. According to the criteria established by these EITF Issues, in transactions where we act as a principal, with discretion to choose suppliers, bear credit risk and perform part of the services required in the transaction, we record revenue for the gross amount of the reimbursement. The costs associated with these reimbursements are reflected as a component of research and development expense in the consolidated statements of operations.

None of the payments that we have received from collaborators to date, whether recognized as revenue or deferred, are refundable even if the related program is not successful.

Research and Development

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred and consist primarily of costs associated with clinical trials, compensation, including stock-based compensation, and other expenses related to research and development, including personnel costs, facilities costs and depreciation.

When nonrefundable payments for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are made, we apply the criteria outlined in EITF Issue 07-3, or EITF 07-3, Accounting for Non-Refundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services to be Used in Future Research and Development Activities . In accordance with EITF 07-3, these types of payments are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are expensed when the related goods are delivered or the services are performed.

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Accrued Clinical Trial Costs

A substantial portion of our on-going research and development activities are performed under agreements we enter into with external service providers, including clinical research organizations, or CROs, who conduct many of our research and development activities. We accrue the costs incurred under these contracts based on factors such as estimates of work performed, milestones achieved, patient enrollment and costs historically incurred for similar contracts. As actual costs become known, we adjust our accruals. To date, our accruals have been within management’s estimates, and no material adjustments to research and development expenses have been recognized. We expect to expand the level of research and development activity to be performed by external service providers and as a result, we expect our estimates of accruals will become more significant to our future operations. Subsequent changes in estimates may result in a material change in our accruals, which could also materially affect our results of operations.

Stock-Based Compensation

We apply Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, or SFAS, No. 123(R), Share-Based Payment, which revises SFAS No. 123, Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation and supersedes Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees to recognize share-based compensation expenses. SFAS No. 123(R) requires that share-based payment transactions with employees be recognized in the financial statements based on their fair value and recognized as compensation expense over the vesting period. We used the modified prospective method when we adopted SFAS No. 123(R) and accordingly we did not restate the results of operations for the prior periods. Compensation expense of $638,000 and $430,000 was recognized in the quarters ended March 31, 2009 and 2008, respectively.

Stock-based compensation expense is estimated as of the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which generally represents the vesting period. We estimate the fair value of our stock options using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and the fair value of our stock awards based on the quoted market price of our common stock.

Estimating the fair value for stock options requires judgment, including estimating stock-price volatility, expected term, expected dividends and risk-free interest rates. The expected volatility rates are based on the historical fluctuation in the stock price since inception. The average expected term is calculated using SAB No. 107, Simplified Method for Estimating the Expected Term. Expected dividends are estimated based on our dividend history as well as our current projections. The risk-free interest rate for periods approximating the expected terms of the options is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant. These assumptions are updated on an annual basis or sooner if there is a significant change in circumstances that could affect these assumptions.

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Equity instruments issued to non-employees are recorded at their fair value as determined in accordance with SFAS No. 123(R) and EITF Issue 96-18, Accounting for Equity Instruments That are Issued to Other Than Employees for Acquiring, or in Conjunction with Selling Goods and Services, and are periodically revalued as the equity instruments vest and are recognized as expense over the related service period.

Results of Operations

Comparison of Three Months Ended March 31, 2009 and 2008

Grant Revenues. Grant revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 were $83,000 and $487,000, respectively. The decrease of $404,000, or 83%, was primarily due to the conclusion of one of two National Institutes of Health grants.

Research and Development Expense. Research and development expense for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $8.8 million and $6.9 million, respectively, an increase of $1.9 million, or 27%. The increase was primarily due to an increase in development and regulatory expenses related to fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin.

Marketing Expense. Marketing expense of $310,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2009 was relatively consistent with the $365,568 for the three months ended March 31, 2008.

General and Administrative Expense. General and administrative expense for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $2.0 million and $1.7 million, respectively. The increase of $311,000, or 18%, was due to higher compensation expenses, including $318,000 of stock compensation expense, an increase of $77,000 over the same period in the prior year, as well as higher consulting expenses.

Interest Income and Other, net. Net interest income and other for the three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008 was $187,000 and $581,000, respectively. The decrease was primarily due to lower average balances as well as lower interest rates on cash, cash equivalents and investments.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity

Since inception, our operations have been financed primarily through the sale of equity securities. Through March 31, 2009, we received gross proceeds of approximately $202.4 million from the sale of shares of our preferred and common stock as follows:

· in May 2000, we sold a total of 1.6 million shares of Series A preferred stock for proceeds of $3.4 million;

· from March 2001 to December 2001, we sold a total of 4.1 million shares of Series B preferred stock for proceeds of $32.2 million;

· in April 2005, we sold a total of 1.5 million shares of Series C preferred stock for proceeds of $12.0 million;

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· from April 2005 to November 2005, we sold a total of 2.9 million shares of Series D preferred stock for proceeds of $22.3 million;

· in February 2007, we sold a total of 7.0 million shares of our common stock in connection with our initial public offering for proceeds of $49.0 million;

· in October 2007, we sold a total of 4.6 million shares of our common stock in connection with a private placement offering for proceeds of $35.9 million;

· in July 2008, we sold a total of 1.7 million shares of our common stock in a registered direct offering for proceeds of $14.7 million; and

· in March 2009, we sold a total of 3.3 million shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 91,533 shares of our common stock in a registered direct offering for proceeds of $32.9 million.

Until required for operations, we invest a substantial portion of our available funds in money market funds, corporate debt securities, United States government instruments and other readily marketable debt instruments, all of which are investment-grade quality. We have established guidelines relating to diversification and maturities of our investments to preserve principal and maintain liquidity.

Cash Flows

As of March 31, 2009, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaled approximately $62.6 million as compared to $39.3 million as of December 31, 2008, an increase of approximately $23.3 million. The increase in our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments was primarily due to the $32.9 million raised in a registered direct offering of our common stock in March 2009.

We cannot be certain if, when or to what extent we will receive cash inflows from the commercialization of our product candidates. We expect our development expenses to be substantial and to increase over the next few years as we advance the development of our product candidates and prepare for regulatory submissions and commercialization.

In February 2007, we regained worldwide rights to fidaxomicin from Par under a prospective buy-back agreement. We are obligated to pay Par a one-time $5.0 million milestone payment, a 5% royalty on net sales by us or our affiliates of fidaxomicin in North America and Israel, and a 1.5% royalty on net sales by us or our affiliates of fidaxomicin in the rest of the world. In addition, in the event we license our right to market fidaxomicin in the rest of the world, we will be required to pay Par a 6.25% royalty on net revenues we receive related to fidaxomicin. We are obligated to pay each of these royalties, if any, on a country-by-country basis for seven years commencing on the applicable commercial launch in each such country. In connection with the exercise of our rights under the prospective buy-back agreement, Par assigned to us a supply agreement with Biocon. Under this agreement, Biocon is obligated to supply to us our requirements of the fidaxomicin active pharmaceutical ingredients for certain markets. We may be obligated to pay a $3.0 million prepayment to Biocon, subject to future set-offs.

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In June 2004, we entered into a license agreement with Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. to which we acquired the non-exclusive right to import and purchase prulifloxacin , and the exclusive right (with the right to sublicense), within the United States, to develop, make, use, offer to sell, sell and license products suitable for consumption by humans containing prulifloxacin. Under the terms of the agreement, we will be required to pay Nippon Shinyaku a milestone payment in the amount of $1.0 million upon the filing, if any, of a new drug application for prulifloxacin in the United States.

In October 2008, our Compensation Committee adopted a Severance Benefit Plan covering certain eligible employees of the Company, including executive officers. Pursuant to the plan, upon an involuntary termination other than for cause, an eligible employee may be entitled to receive specified severance benefits. The benefits may include cash severance payments and acceleration of stock award vesting. The level of benefits provided under the plan depends upon an eligible employee’s position and years of service, and whether the termination is related to a change in control.

Funding Requirements

Our future capital uses and requirements depend on numerous factors including, but not limited to, the following:

· the progress of our clinical trials, including expenses to support the trials and the milestone payments that may become payable to Par and Nippon Shinyaku;

· our ability to establish and maintain strategic collaborations, including licensing and other arrangements;

· the costs involved in prosecuting, enforcing or defending patent claims or other intellectual property rights;

· the costs and timing of regulatory approvals;

· the costs of establishing sales or distribution capabilities;

· the success of the commercialization of our products; and

· the extent to which we in-license, acquire or invest in other indications, products, technologies and businesses.

We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our capital requirements for at least the next 15 months.

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Until we can generate significant cash from our operations, we expect to continue to fund our operations with existing cash resources that were primarily generated from the proceeds of offerings of our equity securities and collaborations and government grants. In addition, we may finance future cash needs through the sale of additional equity securities, strategic collaboration agreements and debt financing. However, we may not be successful in completing future equity financings, in entering into additional collaboration agreements, in receiving milestone or royalty payments under new or existing collaboration agreements, in obtaining new government grants or in obtaining debt financing. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing cash and investment resources will be adequate, that financing will be available when needed or that, if available, financing will be obtained on terms favorable to us or our stockholders. Recently, the credit markets and the financial services industry have been experiencing a period of unprecedented turmoil and upheaval characterized by the government take-over, bankruptcy, failure, collapse or sale of various financial institutions. These events have generally made equity and debt financing more difficult to obtain, and may negatively impact our ability to complete financing transactions. Having insufficient funds may require us to delay, scale-back or eliminate some or all of our development programs, relinquish some or even all of our rights to product candidates at an earlier stage of development or renegotiate less favorable terms than we would otherwise choose. Failure to obtain adequate financing also may adversely affect our ability to operate as a going concern. If we raise funds by issuing equity securities, substantial dilution to existing stockholders would likely result. If we raise funds by incurring additional debt financing, the terms of the debt may involve significant cash payment obligations as well as covenants and specific financial ratios that may restrict our ability to operate our business.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments as of March 31, 2009 consisted primarily of money market funds, corporate debt securities, United States government instruments and other readily marketable debt instruments. Our primary exposure to market risk is interest income sensitivity, which is affected by changes in the general level of U.S. interest rates. The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while at the same time maximizing the income we receive from our investments without significantly increasing risk. A hypothetical ten percent change in interest rates during the quarter ended March 31, 2009 would have resulted in approximately a $16,000 change in net loss. Accordingly, we would not expect our operating results or cash flows to be affected to any significant degree by a sudden change in market interest rates applicable to our securities portfolio. In general, money market funds are not subject to market risk because the interest paid on such funds fluctuates with the prevailing interest rate.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures.

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Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures. As required by Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(b), we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on the foregoing, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

Changes in internal control over financial reporting. There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1A. Risk Factors

The risk factors set forth below with an asterisk (*) next to the title are new risk factors or risk factors containing changes, including any material changes, from the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, as filed with the SEC.

Risks Related to Our Business

We are a company with limited sources of revenue, and we are largely dependent on the success of our lead product candidate fidaxomicin and, to a lesser degree, our other lead product candidate prulifloxacin.

We are a biopharmaceutical company with no products approved for commercial sale and, to date, we have not generated any revenues from product sales. Our ability to generate future revenues depends heavily on our success in:

· developing and securing U.S. and/or foreign regulatory approvals for fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin and, to a lesser extent, other product candidates;

· commercializing, alone or with a partner, any product candidates for which we receive approval from the FDA; and/or comparable foreign regulatory authorities; and

· generating a pipeline of innovative product candidates utilizing our drug discovery platform or through licensing strategies.

Our product candidates will generally require extensive clinical study and evaluation, regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions, substantial investment and significant marketing efforts before we generate any revenues from product sales. We are not permitted to market or promote our product candidates before we receive regulatory approval from the FDA or comparable foreign

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regulatory authorities. We have not submitted an NDA, or received marketing approval for either fidaxomicin or prulifloxacin, and we cannot be certain that either of these product candidates will be successful in on-going or future clinical trials or receive regulatory approval. If we do not receive regulatory approval for and successfully commercialize fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin, we will not generate any revenues from product sales for several years, if at all, and we may not be able to continue our operations.

We believe our initial success will be more dependent on fidaxomicin than prulifloxacin, because we believe that the market for the treatment of CDI is larger than the market for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. Even if we successfully obtain regulatory approval to market fidaxomicin or prulifloxacin, our revenues for either drug candidate will be dependent upon the size of the markets in the territories for which we have commercial rights. If the markets for the treatment of CDI or infectious diarrhea are not as significant as we estimate, our business and prospects will be harmed.

We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and anticipate that we will incur continued losses for the foreseeable future.*

We have experienced significant operating losses since our inception in 1998. As of March 31, 2009, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $144.3 million. We have generated no revenues from product sales to date. We have funded our operations through March 31, 2009 from the sale of approximately $202.4 million of our securities and through research funding pursuant to collaborations with partners or government grants. We expect to continue to incur substantial additional operating losses for the next several years as we advance our clinical trials and research and development initiatives, prepare submissions for regulatory approval of our lead product candidates and build our marketing and sales capabilities. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing, obtaining regulatory approval for and commercializing our product candidates, we are unable to predict the extent of any future losses. We may never successfully commercialize our product candidates and thus may never have any significant future revenues or achieve and sustain profitability.

If we fail to obtain additional financing, we may be unable to commercialize fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin or develop and commercialize our other product candidates, or continue our other research and development programs.

We will require additional capital to commercialize our current lead product candidates, fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Recently, the credit markets and the financial services industry have been experiencing a period of unprecedented turmoil and upheaval characterized by the government take-over, bankruptcy, failure, collapse or sale of various financial institutions. These events have generally made equity and debt financing more difficult to obtain, and may negatively impact our ability to complete financing transactions. To the extent that we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience significant dilution. Any debt financing, if available, may require us to pledge our assets as collateral or involve restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights and other operating

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restrictions that could negatively impact our ability to conduct our business. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development or commercialization of one or more of our product candidates or one or more of our other research and development initiatives. We also could be required to:

· seek collaborators for one or more of our current or future product candidates at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable or on terms that are less favorable than might otherwise be available; or

· relinquish or license on unfavorable terms our rights to technologies or product candidates that we otherwise would seek to develop or commercialize ourselves.

Any of the above events could significantly harm our business and prospects and could cause our stock price to decline.

We do not currently have sufficient resources to commercialize fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin on our own. If we are unable to raise additional capital or are unable to effectively collaborate with one or more partners for the commercialization of fidaxomicin or prulifloxacin, we will not generate significant revenues from sales of these products and our business will be materially harmed.

We are dependent on third party collaborators and we may be unable to enter into future collaboration agreements or we may have disagreements with these collaborators.

We currently plan to build our own marketing and sales force for fidaxomicin in North America and prulifloxacin in the United States, and we intend to seek one or more partners for the commercialization of fidaxomicin outside of North America. With respect to our OPT-88 and OPT-822/OPT-821 product candidates, we currently plan to conduct a limited amount of additional research and development before seeking a partner to advance these product candidates. We cannot be certain that we would be successful in attracting any such partners. If we were not able to find appropriate partners for the continued development and commercialization of fidaxomicin, or our other product candidates, we would either have to delay further development and commercialization initiatives, which would harm our business and prospects, or raise significant additional funds to develop clinical and commercialization capabilities internally.

We are subject to a number of additional risks associated with our dependence on collaborations with third parties. Conflicts may arise between us and collaborators, such as conflicts concerning the interpretation of clinical data, the achievement of milestones, the interpretation of financial provisions or the ownership of intellectual property developed during the collaboration. If any such conflicts arise, a collaborator could act in its own self-interest, which may be adverse to our best interests. Any such disagreement between us and a collaborator could result in one or more of the following, each of which could delay or prevent the development or commercialization of fidaxomicin, and our other product candidates, and in turn prevent us from generating sufficient revenues to achieve or maintain profitability:

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· reductions in the payment of royalties or other payments we believe are due pursuant to the applicable collaboration arrangement or agreement;

· uncertainties regarding ownership of intellectual property rights arising from our collaborative activities, which could prevent us from entering into additional collaborations and commercializing such rights;

· actions taken by a collaborator inside or outside our collaboration which could negatively impact our rights or benefits under our collaboration; or

· unwillingness on the part of a collaborator to keep us informed regarding the progress of its development and commercialization activities or to permit public disclosure of the results of those activities.

In addition, a collaborator may not have or devote sufficient resources to develop and commercialize our product candidates, may elect to underfund, discontinue or may not properly perform pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, or may divert resources to other programs that are potentially competitive with our product candidates.

If we are unable to obtain FDA approval of our product candidates, we will not be able to commercialize them in the United States.

We need FDA approval prior to marketing our product candidates in the United States. If we fail to obtain FDA approval to market our product candidates, we will be unable to sell our product candidates in the United States, which will significantly impair our ability to generate any revenues.

This regulatory review and approval process, which includes evaluation of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates as well as the evaluation of our manufacturing processes and our third-party contract manufacturers’ facilities, is lengthy, expensive and uncertain. To receive approval for a product candidate, we must, among other things, demonstrate with substantial evidence from well-controlled clinical trials that the product candidate is both safe and effective for each indication for which approval is sought. Satisfaction of the approval requirements typically takes several years and the time needed to satisfy them may vary substantially, based on the type, complexity and novelty of the pharmaceutical product. We cannot predict if or when we might receive regulatory approvals for any of our product candidates currently under development. Moreover, any approvals that we obtain may not cover all of the clinical indications for which we are seeking approval, or could contain significant limitations in the form of narrow indications, warnings, precautions or contra-indications with respect to conditions of use. In such an event, our ability to generate revenues from such products would be greatly reduced and our business would be harmed.

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The FDA has substantial discretion in the approval process and may either refuse to consider our applications for substantive review or may form the opinion after review of our data that our applications are insufficient to allow approval of our product candidates. If the FDA does not consider or approve an application that we submit, it may require that we conduct additional clinical, pre-clinical or manufacturing validation studies and submit that data before it will reconsider our application. Depending on the extent of these or any other studies, approval of any applications that we submit may be delayed by several years, or may require us to expend more resources than we have available. For example, we intend to rely in part on certain legacy data from a third party to support an NDA for prulifloxacin. If we are unable to obtain this data in a timely manner or the FDA deems this data to insufficient, it may delay our filing of a NDA for prulifloxacin and could require us to complete additional studies. It is also possible that additional studies, if performed and completed, may not be successful or considered sufficient by the FDA for approval or even to make our applications approvable. If any of these outcomes occur, we may be forced to abandon one or more of our future applications for approval, which might significantly harm our business and prospects.

It is possible that none of our existing product candidates or any product candidates we may seek to develop in the future will ever obtain the appropriate regulatory approvals necessary for us or our collaborators to commence product sales. Increased scrutiny by regulatory authorities may result in significant delays in obtaining regulatory approvals, as well as more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing requirements.

Although the FDA has granted Fast Track status to fidaxomicin and selected it for participation in a CMA Pilot 2 Program, we cannot be certain that we will receive any benefits from these designations or that the designations will expedite regulatory review or approval of fidaxomicin. Participation in these programs will not eliminate any phase of clinical development. Moreover, our participation in the CMA Pilot 2 Program will involve frequent scientific discussions and other interactions with the staff of the FDA during the investigational new drug phase of our development of fidaxomicin. These frequent discussions could subject fidaxomicin to a greater level of scrutiny than it might otherwise have received or require us to make more frequent submissions and endure other burdens that would have been avoided if we had not participated in the program. Therefore, despite any potential benefits of fidaxomicin’s Fast Track and CMA Pilot 2 Program designations, significant uncertainty remains regarding the clinical development and regulatory approval process for fidaxomicin.

Clinical trials involve a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results.*

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of pre-clinical studies and early clinical trials of our product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. For example, results from the first fidaxomicin Phase 3 trial, while positive, may not predict results from the second Phase 3 trial which is on-going. Product candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through pre-clinical studies and initial clinical testing. In addition, the type and amount of clinical data necessary to gain regulatory approval for our product candidates may change or we may inaccurately characterize such requirements. For example, we intend to prepare a Marketing Authorization Application, or MAA, for submission to the European Medicines Agency, or EMEA, for fidaxomacin based on the results from our first Phase 3 trial.

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Although we currently believe that the EMEA will accept an MAA for fidaxomicin based on only one completed Phase 3 trial, we may be incorrect in this belief and may be required to resubmit our filing following the completion of our second Phase 3 trial. Such a resubmission would involve additional delay and expense related to any approval of fidaxomicin in Europe.

Even after we complete our planned clinical trials, our product candidates could fail to receive regulatory approval for many reasons, including the following:

· the results of our clinical trials may not demonstrate to the satisfaction of or meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities that a product candidate is safe and effective for any indication;

· the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

· the results of our clinical trials may not demonstrate that a product candidate’s clinical and other benefits outweigh its safety risks;

· the results of our clinical trials may not demonstrate that a product candidate presents an advantage over existing therapies, or over placebo in any indications for which the FDA requires a placebo-controlled trial;

· the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may disagree with our interpretation of data from pre-clinical studies or clinical trials;

· the data collected from clinical trials of our product candidates may not be sufficient to support the submission of an NDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere; and

· the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

Delays in clinical trials are common and have many causes, and any such delays could result in increased costs to us and jeopardize or delay our ability to achieve regulatory approval and commence product sales as currently contemplated.

We may experience delays in clinical trials of our product candidates. We reported positive top-line data from the first of two Phase 3 trials evaluating fidaxomicin for the treatment of CDI. We anticipate completing enrollment and reporting data from the second trial in 2009. If the second trial is also successful, we intend to file an NDA as soon as practicable thereafter. In addition, we are planning to conduct a registration study for other formulations and proof-of-concept clinical trials for other indications of fidaxomicin. We reported positive top-line data from the two Phase 3 trials evaluating prulifloxacin for the treatment of infectious diarrhea in travelers. We intend to conduct a Phase 4 trial of prulifloxacin subsequent to NDA submission to compare prulifloxacin to ciprofloxacin for the treatment of infectious diarrhea. We do not know whether planned

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clinical trials will begin on time, will need to be redesigned or will be completed on schedule, if at all. Clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays in obtaining regulatory approval to commence a trial, in reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective clinical research organizations, or CROs, and clinical trial sites, in obtaining institutional review board approval at each site, in recruiting suitable patients to participate in a trial, in having patients complete a trial or return for post-treatment follow-up, in adding new sites or in obtaining sufficient supplies of clinical trial materials. Many factors affect patient enrollment, including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials, clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating and whether the clinical trial design involves comparison to placebo.

We could encounter delays if prescribing physicians encounter unresolved ethical issues associated with enrolling patients in clinical trials of our product candidates in lieu of prescribing existing antibiotics that have established safety and efficacy profiles or with administering placebo to patients in our placebo-controlled trials. Further, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, our collaborators, the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. If we experience delays in the completion of, or termination of, any clinical trial of our product candidates, the commercial prospects of our product candidates will be harmed, and our ability to generate product revenues from any of these product candidates will be delayed. In addition, any delays in completing our clinical trials will increase our costs, slow down our product development and approval process and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenues. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

We may be required to suspend or discontinue clinical trials due to adverse events, adverse side effects or other safety risks that could preclude approval of our product candidates.

Our clinical trials may be suspended at any time for a number of reasons. We may voluntarily suspend or terminate our clinical trials if at any time we believe that they present an unacceptable risk to participants. In addition, regulatory agencies may order the temporary or permanent discontinuation of our clinical trials at any time if they believe that the clinical trials are not being conducted in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements or that they present an unacceptable safety risk to participants. In the first Phase 3 clinical trial of fidaxomicin, the most common drug-related side effects reported were nausea, vomiting, constipation, anorexia, headache and dizziness. Patients treated with prulifloxacin have experienced drug-related side effects including abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, renal toxicities, cardiac arrhythmias, photosensitivity, rash, excessive flushing of the skin and central nervous system effects, such as seizures. The FDA recommended that we conduct a study to determine the effect, if any, of

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prulifloxacin on the prolongation of the QT interval, a condition that is associated with potentially life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias. In response to the FDA’s recommendation, we initiated such a QT interval study, which is currently ongoing and expected to be completed in 2009. If adverse, drug-related events are encountered or suspected, our trials would be interrupted, delayed or halted and the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development of or deny approval of our product candidates for any or all targeted indications. Even if we believe our product candidates are safe, our data is subject to review by the FDA, which may disagree with our conclusions and delay or deny approval of our product candidates which would significantly harm the commercial prospects of such product candidates. Moreover, we could be subject to significant liability if any volunteer or patient suffers, or appears to suffer, adverse side effects as a result of participating in our clinical trials. Any of these occurrences may significantly harm our business and prospects.

We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or meet expected deadlines, we and our collaborators may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or commercialize our product candidates.

We have entered into agreements with third-party CROs, such as INC Research, to provide monitors for and to manage data for our on-going clinical programs.

We and the CROs conducting clinical trials for our product candidates are required to comply with current good clinical practices, or GCPs, regulations and guidelines enforced by the FDA for all of our products in clinical development. The FDA enforces GCPs through periodic inspections of trial sponsors, principal investigators and trial sites. If we or the CROs conducting clinical trials of our product candidates fail to comply with applicable GCPs, the clinical data generated in the clinical trials may be deemed unreliable and the FDA may require additional clinical trials before approving any marketing applications. We cannot assure you that, upon inspection, the FDA will determine that any clinical trials of our product candidates comply with GCPs. In addition, our clinical trials must be conducted with product produced under cGMP regulations, and will require a large number of test subjects. Our failure to comply with these regulations may require us to repeat clinical trials, which would be costly and delay the regulatory approval process and commercialization of our product candidates.

Typically, the CROs conducting clinical trials of our product candidates have the right to terminate their agreements with us or our collaborators upon notice in the event of an uncured material breach. In addition, some CROs have an ability to terminate their respective agreements with us if we fail to perform our obligations, if it can be reasonably demonstrated that the safety of the subjects participating in our clinical trials warrants such termination, if we make a general assignment for the benefit of our creditors or if we are liquidated. We have relied substantially on INC Research to conduct the clinical trials for fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. INC Research has also subcontracted with other third-party CROs for various aspects of the clinical trials. If any relationships with INC Research or these other third-party CROs terminate, we or our collaborators may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative CROs or we may enter into arrangements with alternative CROs that do not have the expertise or relationships that INC Research has with government agencies.

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In addition, these third-party CROs are not our employees, and we cannot control whether or not they devote sufficient time and resources to our on-going clinical programs. These CROs may also have relationships with other commercial entities, including our competitors, for whom they may also be conducting clinical studies or other drug development activities, which could harm our competitive position. If CROs do not successfully carry out their contractual duties or obligations or meet expected deadlines, if they need to be replaced, or if the quality or accuracy of the clinical data they obtain is compromised due to the failure to adhere to our clinical protocols, regulatory requirements, or for other reasons, our clinical trials may be extended, delayed or terminated, and we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize our product candidates. As a result, our financial results and the commercial prospects for our product candidates would be harmed, our costs could increase and our ability to generate revenues could be delayed.

If we fail to gain and/or maintain marketing approvals from regulatory authorities in international markets for fidaxomicin and any future product candidates for which we have rights in international markets, our market opportunities will be limited.

Sales of our product candidates outside of the United States will be subject to foreign regulatory requirements governing clinical trials and marketing approval. Even if the FDA grants marketing approval for a product candidate, comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries must also approve the marketing of the product candidate in those countries. This is important for the commercialization of fidaxomicin for which we currently have exclusive worldwide marketing rights. Obtaining foreign regulatory approvals could result in significant delays, difficulties and costs for us and require additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials which would be costly and time consuming. Regulatory requirements can vary widely from country to country and could delay the introduction of our products in those countries. Clinical trials conducted in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries, and regulatory approval in one country does not guarantee regulatory approval will be obtained in any other country. In addition, our failure to obtain regulatory approval in any country may delay or have negative effects on the process for regulatory approval in others. For example, if our planned MAA for fidaxomicin is rejected or unanticipated concerns are raised by the EMEA during its review, a subsequent NDA submission for fidaxomicin could be negatively impacted. Other than prulifloxacin, which is sold by other parties in Japan, Italy and certain other European countries, none of our product candidates is approved for sale in any international market for which we have rights. If we fail to comply with regulatory requirements in our international markets or to obtain and maintain required approvals, our target market will be reduced and our ability to generate revenues will be diminished, which would significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

We currently have no sales organization and have no experience as a company in marketing drug products. If we are unable to expand our marketing capabilities and establish sales capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our product candidates, we may not be able to generate product revenues.

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We currently have a limited marketing organization and do not have a sales organization for marketing, sales and distribution of pharmaceutical products. In order to commercialize any products, we must build our marketing, sales, distribution, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties to perform these services. We plan to build our own marketing and sales force to commercialize fidaxomicin in North America and will seek third-party partners outside North America. We own exclusive rights to commercialize prulifloxacin in the United States, and we contemplate establishing our own sales force or seeking third-party partners to sell prulifloxacin in the United States. The establishment and development of our own sales force to market any products we may develop will be expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully develop this capability. We do not currently have sufficient funds to develop a sales force and other resources that we believe would be necessary to adequately market fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin in the United States. We will also have to compete with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to recruit, hire, train and retain marketing and sales personnel. To the extent we rely on third parties to commercialize our products, if any, we may receive less revenues than if we commercialized these products ourselves. In addition, we may have little or no control over the sales efforts of any third parties involved in commercializing our products. In the event we are unable to develop our own marketing and sales force or collaborate with a third-party marketing and sales organization, we would not be able to commercialize our product candidates which would negatively impact our ability to generate product revenues.

We may not be able to enter into acceptable agreements to market and commercialize fidaxomicin outside of North America or if, needed, adequately build our own marketing and sales capabilities.

If appropriate regulatory approvals are obtained, we intend to commercialize fidaxomicin outside of North America through collaboration arrangements with third parties. We may be unable to enter into collaboration arrangements in international markets. In addition, there can be no guarantee that if we enter into these collaboration arrangements with other parties that they will be successful or result in more revenues than we could obtain by marketing fidaxomicin on our own. If we are unable to enter into collaboration arrangements for our products or develop an effective international sales force, our ability to generate product revenues would be limited, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If we are unable to enter into such collaboration arrangements, we may need to develop our own marketing and sales force to market fidaxomicin in a number of countries in Europe and Latin America to hospital-based and long-term care physicians. These efforts may not be successful as we have no relationships among such hospital-based and long-term care physicians and do not currently have sufficient funds to develop an adequate sales force in these regions. There is no guarantee that we will be able to develop an effective international sales force to successfully commercialize our products in these international markets. If we cannot commercialize fidaxomicin, we will have to rely solely on prulifloxacin and earlier stage product candidates for any future revenues, and our ability to achieve and sustain profitability will be materially and adversely harmed.

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If our product candidates are unable to compete effectively with branded and generic antibiotics, our commercial opportunity would be reduced or eliminated.*

If approved, our lead product candidates will compete against both branded antibiotic therapies, such as Vancocin Pulvules with respect to fidaxomicin and Xifaxan®/rifazamin with respect to prulifloxacin, and generic antibiotics such as metronidazole and oral vancomycin with respect to fidaxomicin and ciprofloxacin with respect to prulifloxacin. In addition, we anticipate that fidaxomicin will compete with other antibiotic and anti-infective product candidates currently in development for the treatment of CDI, such as Xifaxan®/rifaxamin. Many of these products have been or will be developed and marketed by major pharmaceutical companies, who have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, pre-clinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals, manufacturing and marketing approved products than we do. As a result, these companies may obtain regulatory approval more rapidly than we are able to and may be more effective in selling and marketing their products as well. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies.

We anticipate that, if approved, fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin will face increasing competition in the form of generic versions of branded products of competitors that will lose their patent exclusivity. For example, fidaxomicin, if approved, will immediately face steep competition from an inexpensive generic form of metronidazole. Fidaxomicin would currently face generic oral vancomycin competition in Europe and in the future may face competition from generic oral vancomycin in the United States as well. Generic antibiotic therapies typically are sold at lower prices than branded antibiotics and are generally preferred by managed care providers of health services. For example, because metronidazole is sold at such a low price, we believe it will be difficult to sell fidaxomicin as a first-line therapy for the treatment of CDI. If we are unable to demonstrate to physicians and patients that, based on experience, clinical data, side-effect profiles and other factors, our products are preferable to these generic antibiotic therapies, we may never generate meaningful product revenues. In addition, many antibiotics experience bacterial resistance over time because of their continued use. There can be no guarantee that bacteria would not develop resistance to fidaxomicin, prulifloxacin or any of our other product candidates. Our commercial opportunity would also be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and commercialize generic or branded antibiotics that are safer, more effective, have fewer side effects or are less expensive than our product candidates.

We currently depend, and will in the future continue to depend, on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, including fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. If these manufacturers fail to provide us and our collaborators with adequate supplies of clinical trial materials and commercial product or fail to comply with the requirements of regulatory authorities, we may be unable to develop or commercialize our products.*

We outsource all manufacturing of clinical trial supplies of our product candidates to third parties. We seek to establish long-term supply arrangements with third-party contract manufacturers. We intend to continue outsourcing the manufacture of our product candidates to third parties for any future clinical trials and large-scale commercialization of any product candidates that receive regulatory approval and become commercial drugs.

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Our ability to develop and commercialize fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin and any other product candidates depends in part on our ability to arrange for collaborators or other third parties to manufacture our products at a competitive cost, in accordance with strictly enforced regulatory requirements and in sufficient quantities for clinical testing and eventual commercialization. We have not yet manufactured commercial batches of fidaxomicin, prulifloxacin or any of our other product candidates. Collaborators or third-party manufacturers that we select to manufacture our product candidates for clinical testing or on a commercial scale may encounter difficulties with the small- and large-scale formulation and manufacturing processes required for such manufacture. Such difficulties could result in delays in clinical trials, regulatory submissions and approvals, or commercialization of our product candidates. The inability of us or our collaborators to enter into and maintain agreements with third-party manufacturers on acceptable terms would cause shortages of clinical trial supplies of our product candidates, thereby delaying or preventing regulatory approval and/or commercialization of the affected product candidate, and adversely affecting our ability to generate revenues. Further, development of large-scale manufacturing processes will require additional validation studies, which the FDA must review and approve, and the time it will take us or a third party manufacturer to develop such large-scale processes and capabilities may delay any product launch following regulatory approval. Even if we are able to establish additional or replacement manufacturers, identifying these sources and entering into definitive supply agreements and obtaining regulatory approvals may involve a substantial amount of time and cost and such supply arrangements may not be available on acceptable economic terms.

In addition, we, our collaborators and other third-party manufacturers of our products must comply with strictly enforced current good manufacturing practices, or cGMP, requirements enforced by the FDA through its facilities inspection program. These requirements include quality control, quality assurance and the maintenance of records and documentation. We currently rely on Biocon to manufacture fidaxomicin active pharmaceutical ingredient and rely on Patheon, Inc. to manufacture the drug product supplies. As such, Biocon and Patheon will be subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspections by the FDA and other agencies for compliance with current cGMP, and similar foreign standards. We also rely on Nippon Shinyaku, which contracts with Juzen, as well as Angelini and Patheon, to manufacture prulifloxacin drug supplies. The manufacturing facilities of Biocon, Juzen and Patheon have been inspected and approved by the FDA for other companies’ drug products; however, none of Biocon’s, Juzen’s nor Patheon’s facilities have yet been inspected by the FDA for the manufacture of our drug supplies. Angelini’s facilities have not been inspected or approved by the FDA. We or other third-party manufacturers of our products may be unable to comply with cGMP requirements and with other FDA, state, local and foreign regulatory requirements. We and our collaborators have little control over third-party manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards. A failure to comply with these requirements by our third-party manufacturers, including Biocon, Juzen, Angelini, and Patheon could result in the issuance of untitled letters and/or warning letters from authorities, as well as sanctions being imposed on us, including fines and civil penalties, suspension of production, suspension or delay in product approval, product seizure or recall or withdrawal of product approval. In addition, we have no control over these manufacturers’ ability to maintain adequate quality control, quality assurance and qualified personnel. If the safety of any quantities supplied by third parties is compromised due to their failure to adhere to applicable laws or for other reasons, we may not be able to obtain or maintain regulatory approval for or successfully commercialize one or more of our product candidates, which would significantly harm our business and prospects.

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The commercial success of our product candidates will depend upon attaining significant market acceptance of these product candidates among physicians, patients, healthcare payors and the medical community.*

Even if our product candidates are approved by the appropriate regulatory authorities for marketing and sale, physicians may not prescribe our product candidates, which would prevent us from generating revenues or becoming profitable. Market acceptance of fidaxomicin, prulifloxacin and any of our future product candidates by physicians, patients and healthcare payors will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

· the clinical indications for which the product candidate is approved;

· acceptance by physicians and patients of each product candidate as a safe and effective treatment;

· perceived advantages over alternative treatments;

· the cost of treatment in relation to alternative treatments, including numerous generic antibiotics;

· the extent to which the product candidate is approved for inclusion on formularies of hospitals and managed care organizations;

· the extent to which bacteria develops resistance to the product candidate, thereby limiting its efficacy in treating or managing infections;

· whether the product candidate is designated under physician treatment guidelines as a first-line therapy or as a second- or third-line therapy for particular infections;

· the availability of adequate reimbursement by third parties, such as insurance companies and other healthcare payors;

· limitations or warnings contained in a product’s FDA-approved labeling;

· relative convenience and ease of administration; and

· prevalence and severity of adverse side effects.

Because fidaxomicin is a differentiated antibiotic for the treatment of CDI, it may encounter additional hurdles to market acceptance by physicians, who may be skeptical about its clinical benefits, or healthcare payors, who may resist reimbursing a premium-priced therapeutic particularly in light of the availability of generic alternatives.

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We plan to target our marketing of prulifloxacin primarily to high-prescribing physicians of antibiotics for travelers’ diarrhea, including those at travel clinics. Because of the number of these physicians in the United States, we will be required to expend significant time and resources to obtain broad market acceptance of prulifloxacin among these physicians. We do not have experience in marketing to this population of physicians and do not currently have the resources to be able to conduct such marketing efforts on our own. As such, we may not be successful in any of these marketing efforts which would limit the commercial success of prulifloxacin.

In addition, in July 2008 the FDA notified makers of fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drugs for systemic use that a boxed warning is necessary for those products due to the risk of tendonitis and tendon rapture. As prulifloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic it may be required to carry a black box warning. Although these risks have been described for years on the product label of many fluoroquinolones the increased awareness of this risk may impact the market potential for the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics, including prulifloxacin. Furthermore, because prulifloxacin has already been marketed by other companies outside the United States to treat a wide range of bacterial infections, including infectious diarrhea, urinary tract infections and respiratory tract infections, patients may be able to obtain prulifloxacin from these other companies, and not from us, if prulifloxacin is approved in the market where the patient is located. We have rights to prulifloxacin only in the United States. These patients may obtain prulifloxacin in these other markets from other companies even if these patients are from the United States.

If we fail to develop and commercialize other products or product candidates, we may be unable to grow our business.

A key element of our strategy is to commercialize a portfolio of new anti-infective products in addition to fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. As a significant part of our growth strategy, we intend to develop and commercialize additional products and product candidates through our discovery research program using our proprietary technology, including OPopS. The success of this strategy depends upon our ability to identify, select and acquire pharmaceutical product candidates and products that fit into our development plans on terms that are acceptable to us. To supplement this strategy, we may also obtain rights to additional product candidates from third parties through acquisition or in-licensing transactions.

Any product candidate we identify or to which we acquire rights will likely require additional development efforts prior to commercial sale, including pre-clinical studies, extensive clinical testing and approval by the FDA and applicable foreign regulatory authorities. All product candidates are prone to the risks of failure that are inherent in pharmaceutical product development, including the possibility that the product candidate will not be shown to be sufficiently safe and/or effective for approval by regulatory authorities. In addition, we cannot assure you that any such products that are approved will be manufactured or produced economically, successfully commercialized or widely accepted in the marketplace or be more effective than other commercially available alternatives.

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A significant portion of the research that we are conducting involves new and unproven technologies. Research programs to identify new disease targets and product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources whether or not we ultimately identify any candidates. Our research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development.

If we are unable to develop suitable potential product candidates through internal research programs or by obtaining rights to novel therapeutics from third parties, our business and prospects will suffer.

Our focus on drug discovery and development using our technology platform, including our patented proprietary OPopS drug discovery platform, is novel and unique. As a result, we cannot be certain that our product candidates will produce commercially viable drugs that safely and effectively treat infectious diseases or other diseases. To date, our technology platform has yielded only a small number of anti-infective product candidates. In addition, we do not have significant clinical data with respect to any of these potential product candidates. Even if we are successful in completing clinical development and receiving regulatory approval for one commercially viable drug for the treatment of one disease using our technology platform and carbohydrate chemistry focus, we cannot be certain that we will also be able to develop and receive regulatory approval for other drug candidates for the treatment of other forms of that disease or other diseases. If we fail to develop and commercialize viable drugs using our platform and specialized focus, we will not be successful in developing a pipeline of potential product candidates to follow fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin, and our business prospects would significantly be harmed.

Our future growth depends on our ability to identify and acquire or in-license products. If we do not successfully identify and acquire or in-license related product candidates or integrate them into our operations, we may have limited growth opportunities.

We in-licensed the U.S. rights to prulifloxacin from Nippon Shinyaku who, along with Meiji-Seika Kaisha Ltd., conducted the initial development of this product candidate. An important part of our business strategy is to continue to develop a pipeline of product candidates by acquiring or in-licensing products, businesses or technologies that we believe are a strategic fit for our business. Future in-licenses or acquisitions, however, may entail numerous operational and financial risks, including:

· exposure to unknown liabilities;

· disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention to develop acquired products or technologies;

· incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of securities to pay for acquisitions;

· higher than expected acquisition and integration costs;

· increased amortization expenses;

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· difficulty and cost in combining the operations and personnel of any acquired businesses with our operations and personnel;

· impairment of relationships with key suppliers or customers of any acquired businesses due to changes in management and ownership; and

· inability to retain key employees of any acquired businesses.

We have limited resources to identify and execute the acquisition or in-licensing of third-party products, businesses and technologies and integrate them into our current infrastructure. In particular, we may compete with larger pharmaceutical companies and other competitors in our efforts to establish new collaborations and in-licensing opportunities. These competitors likely will have access to greater financial resources than us and may have greater expertise in identifying and evaluating new opportunities. Moreover, we may devote resources to potential acquisitions or in-licensing opportunities that are never completed, or we may fail to realize the anticipated benefits of such efforts.

Our ability to pursue the development and commercialization of prulifloxacin, our other product candidates and our future product candidates depends upon the continuation of our licenses from third parties.

Our license agreement with Nippon Shinyaku provides us with an exclusive license to develop and commercialize prulifloxacin for any indication in the United States, with a right to sublicense to third parties. In the event Nippon Shinyaku is not able to supply us with prulifloxacin, the license agreement provides us with a non-exclusive, worldwide right and license to manufacture or have prulifloxacin manufactured for us. Either we or Nippon Shinyaku may terminate the license agreement immediately upon the bankruptcy or dissolution of the other party or upon a breach of any material provision of the agreement if the breach is not cured within 60 days following written notice. In addition, we are entitled to terminate the agreement in the event that the FDA compels us to cease sales of prulifloxacin in the United States. If our license agreement with Nippon Shinyaku terminates, we will lose our rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize prulifloxacin and our potential revenues would be limited. Similarly, if our agreement with the Scripps Research Institute, or TSRI, for the license of our OPopS technology is terminated, we will not be able to further develop future product candidates using our OPopS technology.

If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our product candidates.

We face an inherent risk of product liability lawsuits related to the testing of our product candidates, and will face an even greater risk if product candidates are introduced commercially. An individual may bring a liability claim against us if one of our product candidates causes, or merely appears to have caused, an injury. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against the product liability claim, we may incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

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· decreased demand for our product candidates;

· injury to our reputation;

· termination of clinical trial sites or entire clinical trial programs;

· withdrawal of clinical trial participants;

· significant litigation costs;

· substantial monetary awards to or costly settlement with patients;

· product recalls;

· loss of revenues; and

· the inability to commercialize our product candidates.

We may become dependent upon consumer perceptions of us and the safety and quality of our product candidates. We could be adversely affected if we or our product candidates are subject to negative publicity. We could also be adversely affected if any of our potential products or any similar products distributed by other companies prove to be, or are asserted to be, harmful to consumers. Also, because of our dependence upon consumer perceptions, any adverse publicity associated with illness or other adverse effects resulting from consumers’ use or misuse of our potential products or any similar products distributed by other companies could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

We have global clinical trial liability insurance that covers our clinical trials up to a $10.0 million annual aggregate limit. Our current or future insurance coverage may prove insufficient to cover any liability claims brought against us. We intend to expand our insurance coverage to include the sale of commercial products if marketing approval is obtained for our product candidates, which would increase our insurance premiums. Because of the increasing costs of insurance coverage, we may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or obtain insurance coverage that will be adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise.

Even if we receive regulatory approval for our product candidates, we will be subject to ongoing significant regulatory obligations and oversight.

Even if we receive regulatory approval to sell our product candidates, the FDA and foreign regulatory authorities will likely impose significant restrictions on the indicated uses or marketing of such products, or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies. In addition, following any regulatory approval of our product candidates, we and our collaborators will be subject to continuing regulatory obligations, such as requirements for storage, recordkeeping and safety reporting, and additional post-marketing obligations, including regulatory oversight of the labeling, packaging, promotion and marketing of our products. If we

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or our collaborators become aware of previously unknown problems with any of our product candidates in the United States or overseas or at our third-party manufacturers’ facilities, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on our products, our third-party manufacturers or on us, including requiring us to reformulate our products, conduct additional clinical trials, make changes in the labeling of our products, implement changes to, or obtain re-approvals of, our third-party manufacturers’ facilities, or withdraw the product from the market. In addition, we or our collaborators may experience a significant drop in the sales of the affected products and our product revenues will be reduced, our reputation in the marketplace may suffer and we may become the target of lawsuits, including class action suits. Moreover, if we or our collaborators or third-party manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we may be subject to civil or criminal fines, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals, product recalls, seizure of products, operating restrictions, costly new manufacturing requirements and criminal prosecution. Any of these events could harm or prevent sales of the affected products and reduce our related revenues or could substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing and marketing these products, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

If we fail to attract and retain senior management and key scientific personnel, we may be unable to successfully develop our product candidates, conduct our clinical trials and commercialize our product candidates.*

Our success depends in part on our continued ability to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified management, clinical and scientific personnel and on our ability to develop and maintain important relationships with leading academic institutions, clinicians and scientists. We are highly dependent upon our senior management and scientific staff, particularly Michael N. Chang, Ph.D., our President and Chief Executive Officer, Tessie M. Che, Ph.D., our Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Operating Officer, Francois-Xavier Frapaise, M.D., our Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Youe-Kong Shue, Ph.D., our Vice President, Clinical Development, Sherwood L. Gorbach, M.D., our Vice President, Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer, and Kevin P. Poulos, our Vice President, Marketing and Sales and Chief Commercial Officer. The loss of services of any of Drs. Chang, Che, Frapaise, Shue, Gorbach or Shue or Mr. Poulos or one or more of our other members of senior management could delay or prevent the successful completion of our planned clinical trials or the commercialization of our product candidates. Replacing key employees may be difficult and costly and may take an extended period of time because of the limited number of individuals in our industry with the breadth of skills and experience required to develop and commercialize products successfully. We do not maintain “key person” insurance policies on the lives of these individuals or the lives of any of our other employees. We employ these individuals on an at-will basis and their employment can be terminated by us or them at any time, for any reason and with or without notice.

We will need to hire additional personnel as we expand our clinical development and commercial activities. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified management and scientific personnel on acceptable terms in the future due to the intense competition for qualified personnel among biotechnology, pharmaceutical and other businesses, particularly in the San Diego, California area. If we are not able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to

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accomplish our business objectives, we may experience constraints that will impede significantly the achievement of our research and development objectives, our ability to raise additional capital and our ability to implement our business strategy. In particular, if we lose any members of our senior management team, we may not be able to find suitable replacements, and our business and prospects may be harmed as a result.

We will need to increase the size of our organization, and we may experience difficulties in managing growth.*

We are a small company with 61 employees as of May 1, 2009. To continue our clinical trials and commercialize our product candidates, we will need to expand our employee base for managerial, operational, marketing, sales, financial and other resources. Future growth will impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including the need to identify, recruit, maintain and integrate additional employees and may take time away from running other aspects of our business, including development and commercialization of our product candidates. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our product candidates and to compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to manage any future growth effectively. To that end, we must be able to:

· manage our development efforts effectively;

· manage our current clinical trials effectively;

· integrate additional management, administrative and manufacturing personnel;

· build a marketing and sales organization; and

· maintain sufficient administrative, accounting and management information systems and controls.

We may not be able to accomplish these tasks, and accordingly, may not achieve our research, development and commercialization goals. Our failure to accomplish any of these goals could harm our financial results and prospects.

Third-party payor coverage and reimbursement may be insufficient or unavailable altogether for our product candidates, which could diminish our sales or affect our ability to sell our products profitably.

Market acceptance and sales of our product candidates will depend on reimbursement policies and may be affected by future healthcare reform measures. Government third-party payors, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and private payors, including health maintenance organizations, decide which drugs they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels for these drugs. Because third-party payors increasingly are challenging prices charged and the cost-effectiveness of medical products, significant uncertainty exists as to the ability of our product candidates to receive adequate coverage and reimbursement. We cannot be sure that third-party payors will place our product candidates on approved formularies or that reimbursement will be available in whole or in part for any of our product candidates. Also, we cannot be sure that insufficient reimbursement amounts will not reduce the demand for, or the price of, our products, if approved.

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Many healthcare providers, such as hospitals, receive a fixed reimbursement amount per procedure or other treatment therapy, and these amounts are not necessarily based on the actual costs incurred. As a result, these healthcare providers may choose only the least expensive therapies regardless of efficacy. We cannot guarantee that our product candidates will be the least expensive alternative and thus providers may decide not to use them or buy them for treatment.

We have not commenced efforts to have our product candidates reimbursed by government or third-party payors. If reimbursement is not available or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to commercialize our products successfully or at all, which would harm our business and prospects.

Recent proposed legislation may permit re-importation of drugs from foreign countries into the United States, including foreign countries where the drugs are sold at lower prices than in the United States, which could materially adversely affect our operating results and our overall financial condition.

We may face competition for our products from lower priced products from foreign countries that have placed price controls on pharmaceutical products. Imports from Canada and elsewhere may continue to increase due to market and political forces, and the limited enforcement resources of the FDA, the U.S. Customs Service, and other government agencies. For example, U.S. Customs Service generally does not prevent individuals from importing from Canada less than a 90-day supply of a prescription drug for personal use, when the drug otherwise complies with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Further, several states and local governments have implemented importation schemes for their citizens, and, in the absence of federal action to curtail such activities, we expect other states and local governments to launch importation efforts. The importation of foreign products that compete with our own product candidates could negatively impact our business and prospects.

Current healthcare laws and regulations and future legislative or regulatory reforms to the healthcare system may affect our ability to sell our product candidates profitably.

In both the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions, there have been, and we anticipate there will continue to be, a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system that could impact our ability to sell our products profitably. We cannot be certain that fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin or other current or future drug candidates will successfully be placed on the list of drugs covered by particular health plan formularies, nor can we predict the negotiated price for our drug candidates, which will be determined by market factors. Many states have also created preferred drug lists and include drugs on those lists only when the manufacturers agree to pay a supplemental rebate. If fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin or other current or future drug candidates are not included on these preferred drug lists, physicians may not be inclined to prescribe them to their Medicaid patients, thereby diminishing the potential market for our products.

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As a result of legislative proposals and the trend towards cost-effectiveness criteria and managed healthcare in the United States, third-party payors are increasingly attempting to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement of new drugs. They may also refuse to provide any coverage of uses of approved products for medical indications other than those for which the FDA has granted market approvals. As a result, significant uncertainty exists as to whether and how much third-party payors will reimburse for newly-approved drugs, which in turn will put pressure on the pricing of drugs. Further, we do not have experience in ensuring approval by applicable third-party payors outside of the United States for reimbursement of our products. The availability of numerous generic antibiotics at lower prices than branded antibiotics can also be expected to substantially reduce the likelihood of reimbursement for fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin. We also anticipate pricing pressures in connection with the sale of our products due to the trend toward managed healthcare, the increasing influence of health maintenance organizations and additional legislative proposals.

We must comply with federal and state “fraud and abuse” laws, and, if we are unable to fully comply with such laws, we could face substantial penalties, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to various federal and state laws pertaining to healthcare fraud and abuse, including anti-kickback laws, the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and state laws requiring reporting and certification under comprehensive compliance programs governing our financial relationships with healthcare providers. Violations of these laws are punishable by criminal and civil sanctions, including, in some instances, exclusion from participation in federal and state healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of operations. We believe that our operations are in material compliance with such laws and we are aware of the need to increase our compliance resources if we begin marketing products. However, because of the far-reaching nature of these laws, there can be no assurance that we would not be required to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws. In addition, there can be no assurance that the occurrence of one or more violations of these laws or regulations would not result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our business involves the use of hazardous materials and we and our third-party manufacturers must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive and restrict how we do business.

Our third-party manufacturers’ activities and, to a lesser extent, our own activities involve the controlled storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials, including the components of our product candidates and other hazardous compounds. We and our manufacturers are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. Although we believe that the safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards prescribed by these laws and regulations, we cannot eliminate the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials. We currently have insurance coverage in the amount of approximately $250,000 for

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damage claims arising from contamination on our property. These amounts may not be sufficient to adequately protect us from liability for damage claims relating to contamination. If we are subject to liability exceeding our insurance coverage amounts, our business and prospects would be harmed. In the event of an accident, state or federal authorities may also curtail our use of these materials and interrupt our business operations.

Our business and operations would suffer in the event of computer, telecommunications or other system failure.

Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, unauthorized access, natural disasters, terrorism, war and telecommunication and electrical failures. Any system failure, accident or security breach that causes interruptions in our operations could result in a material disruption of our drug development programs. For example, the loss of clinical trial information from completed or ongoing clinical trials for fidaxomicin or prulifloxacin, which is maintained by our third-party CRO, could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we may incur liability and the further development of our product candidates may be delayed.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

It is difficult and costly to protect our intellectual property and our proprietary technologies, and we may not be able to ensure their protection.*

Our commercial success will depend in part on obtaining and maintaining patent protection and trade secret protection of the use, formulation and structure of our product candidates, and the methods used to manufacture them, as well as successfully defending these patents against third-party challenges, including those from generic drug manufacturers. Our ability to protect our product candidates from unauthorized making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing by third parties is dependent upon the extent to which we have rights under valid and enforceable patents or trade secrets that cover these activities.

The patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in biotechnology patents has emerged to date in the United States. The biotechnology patent situation outside the United States is even more uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our intellectual property. Accordingly, we cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our licensed patents, our patents or in third-party patents.

The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain, because legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep our competitive advantage. For example:

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· others may be able to make compounds that are similar to our product candidates but that are not covered by the claims of our pending patent applications or licensed patents, or for which we are not licensed under our license agreements;

· others may be able to make competing pharmaceutical formulations containing our product candidates or components of our product formulations that are either not covered by the claims of our licensed patents, not licensed to us under our license agreements or are subject to patents that expire;

· we or our licensors might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by our pending patent applications or the pending patent applications and issued patents of our licensors;

· we or our licensors might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions;

· others may independently develop similar or alternative technologies or duplicate any of our technologies;

· it is possible that our pending patent applications or our licensed patent applications will not result in issued patents;

· our pending patent applications or the pending patent applications and issued patents of our licensors may not provide us with any competitive advantages, may be designed around by our competitors, including generic drug companies, or may be held invalid or unenforceable as a result of legal challenges by third parties;

· we may not develop additional proprietary technologies that are patentable; or

· the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.

In addition, to the extent we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for one of our lead product candidates or in the event such patent protection expires, it may no longer be cost effective to extend our portfolio by pursuing additional development of a product candidate for follow-on indications.

We have filed 9 patent applications related to fidaxomicin, one of which has resulted in the issuance of a polymorph patent and one of which has resulted in a manufacturing patent, from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or U. S. PTO, and seven of which are pending.

These patent applications related to fidaxomicin encompass various topics relating to:

· composition of matter for fidaxomicin (issued in Taiwan);

· composition of matter for fidaxomicin related substances and use for CDI;

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· polymorphic forms (issued in U.S.);

· additional polymorphic form;

· composition comprising a polymorphic form;

· manufacturing processes (issued in U.S. and in Australia);

· treatment of diseases;

· formulation; and

· fidaxomicin related compounds, including metabolites, e.g. OP-1118.

If we are unable to obtain a composition of matter patent, our competitors, including generic drug companies, may be able to design other similar formulations of the active ingredient of fidaxomicin. Furthermore, even when the process patent is issued and if the formulation patent applications become issued patents, our competitors, including generic drug companies, may be able to design around our manufacturing processes or formulation for fidaxomicin. As a result, our competitors may be able to develop competing products.

In addition, we currently plan to submit an NDA for prulifloxacin for the treatment of infectious diarrhea in travelers in 2009. The composition of matter patent covering prulifloxacin expired in February 2009. Although in some cases the U.S. PTO will grant an extension of a patent term where the related product is subject to FDA approval, this extension was unavailable to us with respect to the prulifloxacin composition of matter patent because we did not submit an NDA for prulifloxacin prior to the expiration of this patent. There are currently no other active issued patents which would prevent third parties from potentially marketing prulifloxacin in the United States. Therefore, we will likely rely on one or more regulatory marketing exclusivities for prulifloxacin in the United States. Specifically, if our NDA for prulifloxacin is approved, we expect to receive a five-year period of marketing exclusivity under the Hatch-Waxman Act. This exclusivity period is available to the first applicant to gain approval of an NDA for a new chemical entity, or NCE, that has not previously been approved as an active ingredient under Section 505(b) of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA. While we expect that the NCE exclusivity period will be available for prulifloxacin, if we or Nippon Shinyaku are unsuccessful in obtaining additional patents related to prulifloxacin, we may face generic competition in the United States five years after our NDA for prulifloxacin is approved by the FDA. If we are unable to obtain marketing exclusivity beyond five years from the approval of our NDA, our potential revenues from prulifloxacin sales in the U.S. will be limited.

We depend, in part, on our licensors and collaborators to protect a portion of our proprietary rights. In such cases, our licensors and collaborators may be primarily or wholly responsible for the maintenance of patents and prosecution of patent applications relating to important areas of our business. For example, Nippon Shinyaku, SKI, TSRI and Cempra are responsible for the maintenance of patents and prosecution of patent applications relating to prulifloxacin, OPT-822/OPT-821 combination therapy, our OPopS technology, and OP-1068 also known as CEM-101, respectively. We may also be dependent on Par to provide technical support for patent applications relating to fidaxomicin. If any of these parties fail to adequately protect these product candidates with issued patents, our business and prospects would be significantly harmed.

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Under our agreement with Nippon Shinyaku, in the event Nippon Shinyaku fails to take all steps necessary to seek extension of the patents licensed to us in the United States 180 days after we request such action be taken, then we have the right to take all necessary actions to extend the licensed patents. Our agreements with SKI, TSRI, Cempra and Par do not have explicit provisions regarding our rights to take necessary action with respect to maintenance of patents and prosecution of patent applications nor do such agreements provide us with any legal recourse in the event such parties do not so maintain and/or prosecute. If any of these parties fails to adequately maintain patents and prosecute patent applications relating to technology licensed to or from us, we may be required to take further action on our own to protect this technology. However, we may not be successful in maintaining such patents or prosecuting such patent applications and if so, our business and prospects would be significantly harmed.

We also rely on trade secrets to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. Although we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees, consultants, contractors, outside scientific collaborators and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our information to competitors. Enforcing a claim that a third-party entity illegally obtained and is using any of our trade secrets is expensive and time consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States are sometimes less willing to protect trade secrets. Moreover, our competitors may independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how.

If we or our licensors fail to obtain or maintain patent protection or trade secret protection for our product candidates or our technologies, third parties could use our proprietary information, which could impair our ability to compete in the market and adversely affect our ability to generate revenues and attain profitability.

We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to our patent, trademark and other intellectual property rights, and we may be unable to protect our rights to, or use, our technology.

If we choose to go to court to stop someone else from using our inventions, that individual or company has the right to ask the court to rule that the underlying patents are invalid and/or should not be enforced against that third party. These lawsuits are expensive and would consume time and other resources even if we were successful in stopping the infringement of these patents. There is also the risk that, even if the validity of these patents is upheld, the court will refuse to stop the other party on the ground that such other party’s activities do not infringe our rights to these patents.

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Furthermore, a third party may claim that we or our manufacturing or commercialization partners are using inventions covered by the third party’s patent rights and may go to court to stop us from engaging in our normal operations and activities, including making, using or selling our product candidates. These lawsuits are costly and could affect our results of operations and divert the attention of managerial and technical personnel. There is a risk that a court would decide that we or our commercialization partners are infringing the third party’s patents and would order us or our partners to stop the activities covered by the patents. In addition, there is a risk that a court will order us or our partners to pay the other party damages for having violated the other party’s patents. We have indemnified our commercial partners against patent infringement claims and thus would be responsible for any of their costs associated with such claims and actions. The biotechnology industry has produced a proliferation of patents, and it is not always clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods of use. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts and the interpretation is not always uniform. If we are sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products or methods of use either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent and/or that the patent claims are invalid, and we may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity, in particular, is difficult since it requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents.

Although we have conducted searches of third-party patents with respect to fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin, these searches may not have identified all third-party patents relevant to those products and we have not conducted an extensive search of patents issued to third parties with respect to our other product candidates. Consequently, no assurance can be given that third-party patents containing claims covering our products, technology or methods do not exist, have not been filed, or could not be filed or issued. Because of the number of patents issued and patent applications filed in our technical areas or fields, we believe there is a risk that third parties may allege they have patent rights encompassing our products, technology or methods. In addition, we have not conducted an extensive search of third-party trademarks, so no assurance can be given that such third-party trademarks do not exist, have not been filed, could not be filed or issued, or could not exist under common trademark law. While we have filed a trademark application for the names “Optimer” and “Optimer Pharmaceuticals,” we are aware that the name “Optimer” has been registered as a trademark with the U.S. PTO by more than one third party, including one in the biotechnology space. As such, we believe there is a significant risk that third parties may allege they have trademark rights encompassing the names for which we have applied for protection.

Because some patent applications in the United States may be maintained in secrecy until the patents are issued, because patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions are typically not published until eighteen months after filing, and because publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications for technology covered by our licensors’ issued patents or our pending applications or our licensors’ pending applications, or that we or our licensors were the first to invent the technology. Our competitors may have filed, and may in the future file, patent applications covering technology similar to ours. Any such patent application may have priority over our or our licensors’ patent applications and could further require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party has filed a U.S. patent application on inventions similar to ours, we may have to participate in an interference proceeding declared by the U.S. PTO, to determine priority of invention in the United States.

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The costs of these proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that such efforts would be unsuccessful, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to such inventions.

Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations.

Risks Related to the Securities Market and Ownership of Our Common Stock

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile.

Before our initial public offering in February 2007, there was no public market for our common stock. We cannot assure you that an active trading market will exist for our common stock. You may not be able to sell your shares quickly or at the market price if trading in our common stock is not active.

The trading price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:

· general economic and market conditions and other factors that may be unrelated to our operating performance or the operating performance of our competitors, including the current turmoil in the credit market and financial services industry;

· announcement of FDA or comparable foreign regulatory agency approval or non-approval of our product candidates, or specific label indications for their use, or delays in the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory agency review process;

· actions taken by the FDA or other regulatory agencies with respect to our product candidates, clinical trials, manufacturing process or marketing and sales activities;

· changes in laws or regulations applicable to our products, including but not limited to clinical trial requirements for approvals;

· the success of our development efforts and clinical trials, particularly with respect to fidaxomicin and prulifloxacin;

· announcements by our collaborators with respect to clinical trial results and communications from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory agencies;

· the success of our efforts to acquire or in-license additional products or product candidates;

· developments concerning our collaborations and partnerships, including but not limited to those with our sources of manufacturing supply and our commercialization partners;

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· actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating results;

· announcements of technological innovations by us, our collaborators or our competitors;

· new products or services introduced or announced by us or our commercialization partners, or our competitors and the timing of these introductions or announcements;

· third-party coverage or reimbursement policies;

· actual or anticipated changes in earnings estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

· conditions or trends in the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries;

· announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;

· general economic and market conditions and other factors that may be unrelated to our operating performance or the operating performance of our competitors, including the turmoil on the credit markets and financial services industry;

· changes in the market valuations of similar companies;

· sales of common stock or other securities by us or our stockholders in the future;

· additions or departures of key scientific or management personnel;

· disputes or other developments relating to intellectual property, proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our technologies; and

· trading volume of our common stock.

In addition, the stock market in general and the market for biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies in particular have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated and/or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry factors may significantly harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could significantly harm our business, financial condition and prospects.

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Future sales of our common stock in the public market could cause our stock price to decline.

Persons who were our stockholders prior to our initial public offering continue to hold a substantial number of shares of our common stock. Many of these stockholders are able to sell their shares in the public market. Significant portions of these shares are held by a small number of stockholders. Sales by such stockholders of a substantial number of shares, or the expectation that such sales may occur, could significantly reduce the market price of our common stock. Moreover, the holders of a substantial number of shares of our common stock have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements to permit the resale of their shares in the public market or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders.

We have also registered all common stock that we have issued under our employee benefits plans. As a result, these shares can be freely sold in the public market upon issuance, subject to any applicable restrictions under the securities laws. In addition, our directors and executive officers may in the future establish programmed selling plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act for the purpose of effecting sales of our common stock. If any of these events cause a large number of our shares to be sold in the public market, the sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock and impede our ability to raise future capital.

Negative conditions in the global credit markets may impair the liquidity of a portion of our investment portfolio.*

Our investment securities consist of high-grade auction rate securities, money market funds, corporate debt securities and government agency securities. As of March 31, 2009, we held two auction rate preferred securities valued at $1.0 million with perpetual maturity dates that reset every 28 days. The negative conditions in the global credit markets have prevented some investors from liquidating their holdings, including their holdings of auction rate securities. There was insufficient demand at auction for these two auction rate preferred securities. As a result, these affected securities are currently not liquid, and we could be required to hold them until they are redeemed by the issuer or to maturity. In the event we need to access the funds that are in an illiquid state, we will not be able to do so without a loss of principal, until a future auction on these investments is successful, the securities are redeemed by the issuer or they mature. We have reduced the carrying value of our auction rate securities by $118,000, from $1,150,000 to $1,032,000, to reflect an estimated change in fair market value due primarily to a lack of liquidity. Although the auction rate securities continue to pay interest according to their stated terms, based on valuation models, we have recorded an unrealized loss for an other-than-temporary change in valuation of $118,000. If the credit ratings of the security issuers deteriorate or if uncertainties in these markets continue and any decline in market value is determined to be other-than-temporary, we would be required to adjust the carrying value of the investment through an impairment charge, which could negatively affect our financial condition, cash flow and reported earnings.

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We will continue to incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.*

As a public company, we will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC and the Nasdaq Global Market, or Nasdaq, impose various requirements on public companies, including requiring establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for us to maintain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to incur substantial costs in the future to maintain the same or similar coverage.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires, among other things, that we maintain effective internal controls for financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. As a result, as of December 31, 2008, we were required to perform an evaluation of our internal controls over financial reporting to allow management to report on the effectiveness of those controls, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Additionally, our independent auditors were required to perform a similar evaluation and report on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. At December 31, 2008, management and our independent auditors did not identify any material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. Our efforts to comply with Section 404 and related regulations has required, and continues to require, the commitment of significant financial and managerial resources. While we anticipate maintaining the integrity of our internal controls over financial reporting and all other aspects of Section 404, we cannot be certain that a material weakness will not be identified when we test the effectiveness of our control systems in the future. If a material weakness is identified, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources, costly litigation or a loss of public confidence in our internal controls, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our stock.

Some provisions of our charter documents and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could discourage an acquisition of us by others, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so would benefit our stockholders, or remove our current management. These provisions include:

· a board of directors divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, such that not all members of the board will be elected at one time;

· authorizing the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and shares of which may be issued without stockholder approval;

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Item 6. Exhibits

Exhibit No.		Description of Document
3.1(2)		Certificate of Incorporation of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as amended and restated.
3.2(3)		Bylaws of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc., as amended.
4.1(2)		Common Stock Certificate of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
4.2(1)		Investors’ Rights Agreement by and among Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and certain stockholders of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. dated November 30, 2005, as amended and restated.
4.3(4)		Registration Rights Agreement, dated October 23, 2007, by and between Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and the purchasers listed on the signature pages thereto.
4.4(6)		Form of Warrant to Purchase Common Stock issued on March 9, 2009.
10.1(6)		Summary of Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2009 Incentive Compensation Plan.
10.2(6)		Form of Common Stock Purchase Agreement dated March 4, 2009.
10.3(6)		Form of Unit Purchase Agreement dated March 4, 2009.
31.1		Certification of principal executive officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
31.2		Certification of principal financial officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
32		Certification by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of the Registrant, as required by Rule 13a-14(b) or 15d-14(b) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. 1350).

(1)		Filed with Registrant’s Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-1 November 9, 2006.
(2)		Filed with Registrant’s Amendment No. 4 to Registration Statement on Form S-1 on February 5, 2007.
(3)		Filed with Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K on September 18, 2007.
(4)		Filed with Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K on October 29, 2007.
(5)		Filed with Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K on January 13, 2009.
(6)		Filed with Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K on March 5, 2009.

	OPTIMER PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

Dated: May 8, 2009	By:	/s/ John D. Prunty
	Name:	John D. Prunty
	Title:	*Chief Financial Officer*
		*(Duly Authorized Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)*

/s/ Michael N. Chang		/s/ John D. Prunty
Michael N. Chang		John D. Prunty
Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)		Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

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PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements (unaudited)

Consolidated Balance Sheets — March 31, 2009 and December 31, 2008		3

Consolidated Statements of Operations — Three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008		4

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows — Three months ended March 31, 2009 and 2008		5

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements		6

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		19

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk		26

Item 4. Controls and Procedures		26

PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1A. Risk Factors		27

Item 6. Exhibits		58

SIGNATURE

/s/ Michael N. Chang
Michael N. Chang
President and Chief Executive Officer

/s/ John D. Prunty
John D. Prunty
Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

1.		The Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2009, to which this Certification is attached as Exhibit 32 (the “Quarterly Report”), fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and

2.		The information contained in the Quarterly Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition of the Company at the end of the period covered by the Quarterly Report and results of operations of the Company for the period covered by the Quarterly Report.