HUDDINGE, Sweden, July 15, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Boehringer Ingelheim and Medivir sign agreement for novel HIV/AIDS antiviral - MIV-310, as a possible treatment for multi-drug resistant patients -
Boehringer Ingelheim and Medivir today announced that Medivir has out- licensed its innovative HIV antiviral MIV-310 to Boehringer Ingelheim.
MIV-310 is an extremely potent inhibitor of reverse transcriptase and belongs to the nucleoside analogue class (NRTI). Currently, it is in phase II clinical development. In contrast to conventional nucleoside analogues on the market, preclinical and clinical results show that MIV- 310 has a unique activity against multi-drug resistant HIV-1.
Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will make upfront and milestone payments to Medivir totaling up to EUR 122 m in the event that all development and performance milestones are met. Medivir will also receive a double-digit royalty on product sales. Boehringer Ingelheim receives exclusive global marketing rights, except for the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland), which are retained by Medivir. Responsibility for pharmaceutical and clinical development rests with Boehringer Ingelheim.
There are currently over 40 million HIV/AIDS positive people, of which 1.4 million are in the industrialized world. A significant proportion of these have drug-resistant virus. In a newly published study, it was revealed that 70 percent of patients in the industrialized world are virus-resistant to current NRTI antivirals.
"For Medivir, it is an important milestone, and a clear sign of our excellence within polymerase research, again to be able to out-licence an HIV project", commented Lars Adlersson, CEO of Medivir. "It is rewarding to be able to contribute new hope to people living with resistant HIV".
"We are pleased to have concluded this agreement and look forward to collaborating with Medivir on MIV-310", said Dr Andreas Barner, Member of the Board of Managing Directors at Boehringer Ingelheim, responsible for Research & Development and Medicine. "Together with the marketed non- nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Viramune, and the protease inhibitor tipranavir, currently in phase III of clinical development, MIV-310 will complement Boehringer Ingelheim's HIV drug development portfolio."
About Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation is one of the world's 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany it operates globally with 156 affiliates in 44 countries and a total of about 32,000 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2002, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of 7.6 billion euro while spending about one fifth of net sales in its largest business segment Prescription Medicines on research and development. For more information on Boehringer Ingelheim, please see the international Internet website www.boehringer-ingelheim.com.
About The Medivir Group
Medivir is an innovative, specialist research corporation that develops new pharmaceutical compounds based on proteases and polymerases as target enzymes. The company is located in Huddinge, Sweden and Cambridge, UK.
The group comprised Medivir AB, the subsidiaries Medivir UK Ltd. and the CCS group until 1 July 2003, after this date the CCS group is owned by Segulah II L.P. Medivir has been quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange since 1996 and on the Attract40 list since 1 July 2003.
Medivir's research portfolio includes projects against HIV, jaundice, shingles, cold sores, osteoporosis, RA (rheumatoid arthritis), asthma and MS (multiple sclerosis).
Medivir has four projects in clinical development phases, two of which are entering phase III after completing phase II. One project is in phase I and one is in phase II.
In the first stage of preclinical pharmaceutical discovery, Medivir has some ten activities in explorative activities; the second, lead identification, encompasses three projects. The third stage, optimization, has one project, and two projects entering this stage. One project-MV026048-is in preclinical development, the stage closest to clinical development.
For additional information, please see Medivir's website www.medivir.com
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