Medivir, Tibotec hepatitis C collaboration produces candidate drug

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Dec. 29 - Medivir said its hepatitis C virus research collaboration with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has yielded a candidate drug.

"The designation of this candidate drug is the third in a row of protease-based candidate drugs which we have achieved in less than two years," Medivir chief executive officer Lars Adlersson said in a company news release.

"This ... enhances the prospects of entering clinical trials over the next few years with several protease inhibitor projects, targeting large patient populations."

The companies began the research collaboration in November 2004 to identify and develop orally active inhibitors of the HCV protease NS3/4A, Medivir said.

In addition to the candidate drug, the program has reached its first milestone for preclinical development, triggering a €5 million payment to Medivir.

"Hepatitis C is a highly interesting area for the development of new, innovative pharmaceuticals, and there is a huge need for new treatment principles," Medivir vice president of research Bertil Samuelsson said in the release.

It is estimated that 3% of the global population is infected with the hepatitis C virus, the company said, and that the market for hepatitis C is expected to grow from $3.6 billion to $9 billion annually by the year 2010.

Medivir is a development-stage pharmaceutical company based in Huddinge, Sweden, that develops drug compounds based on proteases as target enzyme.

Tibotec is a pharmaceutical company based in Little Island, Ireland, that develops HIV/AIDS drugs and anti-infectives.

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