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Inhibitex Obtains License To HCV Polymerase Inhibitors
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Potent Nucleoside Analogues Augment Company's Hepatitis C Program
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2007--Inhibitex, Inc. (Nasdaq: INHX) announced today that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Cardiff University in Wales, United Kingdom and Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium for intellectual property covering a series of highly potent hepatitis C virus (HCV) polymerase inhibitors in exchange for an upfront license fee, future milestone payments and royalties on future net sales. Additional financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
The licensed compounds include a series of nucleoside analogs that inhibit NS5b, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase that is a critical enzyme in the lifecycle of HCV. In vitro studies using a HCV genotype 1b subgenomic replicon system demonstrate that these nucleoside analogues are among the most potent HCV polymerase inhibitors in development. The compounds were discovered in the laboratories of Professor Chris McGuigan, Chairman of Departmental Research Committee and Director of Research, Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Cardiff University and Professor Johan Neyts of the Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy of the Rega Institute for Medical Research of the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven.
"The addition of these highly potent nucleoside polymerase inhibitors complement those we recently in-licensed from the University of Georgia and fully establishes a HCV program at Inhibitex," stated Dr. Joseph M. Patti, Chief Scientific Officer. "Further, this exclusive license expands our collaborative relationships with two leaders in the field of antiviral research, Cardiff University and the Rega Institute. We are very pleased with the addition of these compounds to our pipeline, which includes a number of promising infectious disease development programs with the potential to provide meaningful benefits to large patient populations."
About Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a chronic liver disease caused by infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is transmitted primarily through blood or blood products. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 170 million people worldwide are infected with HCV, four million of which are in the United States. HCV is a leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure.
About Inhibitex
Inhibitex, Inc., headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of products that can treat, prevent or diagnose serious infections. In addition to its emerging antiviral pipeline that includes FV-100 to treat shingles (herpes zoster), HIV integrase inhibitors, HCV polymerase inhibitors and nucleoside analogues with antiviral activity against cytomegalovirus (CMV), the Company has several programs and collaborations based upon its proprietary MSCRAMM(R) protein platform. These include Aurexis(R), a humanized monoclonal antibody being developed for the treatment, in combination with antibiotics, of serious Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections, including those caused by MRSA, as well as license agreements with Wyeth for the development of staphylococcal vaccines and 3M for the development of diagnostic products.
For additional information about Inhibitex, please visit www.inhibitex.com
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