Compound licensed from Medivir did not meet the desired preclinical profile.
Bristol-Myers Squibb has terminated the development of a preclinical HIV compound as it did not meet the desired profile. MIV-170, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, was licensed from Medivir in September 2006.
At the time of the transaction, Medivir received a $7.5-million upfront payment. While the company was eligible to milestones worth $97 million and double-digit royalties, Bo Oberg, CEO of Medivir HIV Franchise, is satisfied that the license agreement had already provided the company with payments exceeding its own investments in the project.
“The termination of this collaboration will not have any material effect on Medivir’s ability to establish itself as a profitable, research-based pharmaceutical company with its own regional sales force,” states Medivir’s CEO, Lars Adlersson.
Medivir had discontinued development of the entire family of polymerase inhibitor compounds. “We have intentionally refrained from continued investments in the group of compounds that MIV-170 belongs to,” reports Adlersson. “Our focus is entirely on the mature projects Hepatit C-PI (Phase I), cathepsin K (Phase I), and Lipsovir (Phase III) for which we are aiming at communicating clinical data later this year.”
