BioLineRx negotiated a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with Genoscience and RFS pharma to develop and commercialize BL-8030, a preclinical-stage oral candidate for treating hepatitis C. The drug is a second-generation NS3 protease inhibitor and the second HCV candidate licensed by BioLilneRx from Genoscience over the last couple of weeks.
In January BioLineRx nabbed exclusive, worldwide rights to BL-8020, ,an orally available treatment for hepatitis C in preclinical development to inhibit HCV-induced autophagy. BL-8030 derives from research at Genoscience and has been co-developed with RFS Pharma. The firms maintain the this candidate has demonstrated an improved resistance profile against common protease inhibitor mutants, potentially lowering the probability that treatment will lead to drug resistance.
“Two years ago, we took a strategic decision to enter the dynamic and rapidly growing field of hepatitis C,” notes Kinneret Savitsky, Ph.D., BioLineRx CEO. “Since that time we have evaluated numerous projects in the field. A year ago, we identified and decided to focus on the in-licensing of the two most promising candidates, BL-8020, which we’ve recently licensed, and now BL-8030.”