Boehringer signs away HIV rights to focus on hep C
pharmafile | October 7, 2011 | News story | Research and Development | Boehringer, Gilead, HIV, hepatitis C
Boehringer Ingelheim has signed a deal giving Gilead Sciences exclusive worldwide rights to a major part of its HIV portfolio.
The deal will allow Boehringer to concentrate on other areas of its virology portfolio, in particular hepatitis C where its lead compound – BI 201335 – moved into Phase III trials earlier this year.
The deal with Gilead, already a dominant force in the HIV market, will see the California-based company take over R&D and commercialisation of Boehringer’s novel non-catalytic site integrase inhibitors (NCINIs) in return for an undisclosed upfront payment.
The compounds – including BI 224436, which has been evaluated in a Phase Ia dose-escalation study – target the part of the HIV virus responsible for incorporating viral DNA into the human genome.
Gilead chief scientific officer Norbert Bischofberger says the Boehringer products complement the company’s own internal discovery programmes.
“We are looking forward to progressing BI 224436 or other compounds further into clinical development,” he added.
Gilead’s interest stems from the fact that NCINIs bind to a novel site, unlike the catalytic site used by the current class of integrase inhibitors.
This means that they may offer patients a different kind of resistance from Merck’s Isentress (raltegravir) or Gilead’s own elvitegravir. Boehringer is in line for additional milestone and royalty payments if the deal proves successful.
“Both companies’ genuine interest in advancing research and development in virology is reflected by this collaboration’s aim to address unmet patient needs,” said Boehringer’s senior vice president medicine Klaus Dugi.
“While Gilead will drive the integrase inhibitors in HIV into clinical development, we will focus our development efforts on further compounds of our virology pipeline, particularly our portfolio in hepatitis C,” he added.
Gilead’s own brand Atripla, developed via a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb, is a gold standard for HIV first-line therapy.
Meanwhile European regulators recently recommended the approval of a new, once-daily form of Boehringer’s HIV treatment Viramune (nevirapine).
Adam Hill
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