AEGiS-PRn: Avid Corporation Licenses DuPont Merck's HIV Protease Inhibitor

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Avid Corporation Licenses DuPont Merck's HIV Protease Inhibitor

PR Newswire, 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019 - Monday, 13 January 1997.

CAMDEN, N.J., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Avid Corporation today announced that it has licensed from the DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company a second generation HIV protease inhibitor known as DMP450. Under the license agreement, Avid has the worldwide marketing rights to the compound. DuPont Merck received an upfront payment and is eligible for future milestone and royalty payments. Avid intends to initiate phase I/II clinical trials of DMP450 in the coming months.

"We are enthusiastic about continuing the clinical development of this promising drug candidate," said Forrest H. Anthony, M.D., Ph.D., President of Avid. "On the basis of phase I clinical data, it appears that excellent absorption and sustained levels of drug in the bloodstream may be particular strengths of DMP450. In addition, the drug appears to be considerably easier to manufacture than other HIV protease inhibitors." In the last year, protease inhibitors in combination with other drugs have revolutionized AIDS therapy, creating a new market for these drugs estimated at $2 to $3 billion annually.

Located in Philadelphia, PA, and in Camden, NJ, Avid Corporation is a privately held pharmaceutical company specializing in the development of medicines to combat life threatening viral diseases. Avid has a strategic alliance with the Warner-Lambert Company to discover drugs to treat Hepatitis B Virus, an ongoing drug discovery program in the field of Hepatitis C, and a profitable virology laboratory testing service business. Avid's investors include venture capital firms Oxford BioScience Partners, BancBoston Ventures, MDS Health Ventures, and GIMV (Belgium), and institutional investors Norsk Hydro (Oslo), Altamira (Toronto), Credit Suisse and SBS (Switzerland). SOURCE Avid Corporation

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