Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Monday July 12, 1999
Roche and Trimeris will share equally the development expenses and profits for the fusion inhibitors, T-20 and T-1249, in the United States and Canada, Roche said Monday. The Swiss company will pay for all development costs elsewhere, market the drugs worldwide and "pay Trimeris undisclosed royalties on net sales of these products."
Preliminary results of a study reported last November in the journal Nature Medicine showed T-20 cut the level of the AIDS virus in patients' blood by as much as 99 percent in two weeks. T-20 is in the second of three phases of human testing. It is as potent as currently approved drugs, which can drive the virus down to undetectable levels when taken longer.
The drug sabotages HIV's machinery for penetrating into the body's cells, a different strategy from that used in approved HIV medications.
Roche will make an initial cash payment to Trimeris of $10 million. Additional payments of up to $78 million will be made as the drug reaches the market, the company said.
The second drug, T-1249, which also inhibits HIV fusion, also has received fast track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is in the first phases of human testing, Roche said.
The two companies plan to begin a full-scale development program and clinical trials for both drugs in the coming months.
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