Adventrx terminates licensing of BlockAide/CR for HIV, cites "significant hurdles"

New York, Dec. 7 - Adventrx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. said it has terminated its agreement to license patents for its BlockAide/CR pre-clinical product from the National Institutes of Health.

Studies suggest there are "significant hurdles" to the development of the drug and "pharmaceutically acceptable formulations would require extensive and costly development and testing," the company said in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The estimated costs and technical risks of developing the technology outweigh the expected benefits if it is successfully brought to market, Adventrx added.

BlockAide/CR is intended for the treatment and prevention of HIV.

Adventrx had licensed exclusive worldwide rights to the patents for the product from the National Institutes of Health in August 2002. It agreed to make minimum royalty payments in the first year of the license and then minimum annual royalties or a percentage of net sales, if higher. It was also required to pay benchmark royalties when phase 1 trials began, when phase 2 trials began, when phase 3 trials began and on first approval of a product license application for an HIV therapeutic or vaccine in the United States and for first approval in Europe.

The termination is effective Jan. 31.

Adventrx is a San Diego biopharmaceutical research and development company focused on developing new technologies for anticancer and antiviral treatments that improve performance and safety of existing drugs by addressing problems such as drug metabolism, toxicity, bioavailability and resistance.

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