Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PR Newswire - 24 Jan 1996
According to officials at Mitsubishi, the company decided to partner with Triangle because of its unique expertise in the evaluation and development of antiviral compounds. MKC-442 arose out of Mitsubishi research collaborations with Birmingham University in the United Kingdom, Leuven University in Belgium and Showa University in Japan. By supporting MKC-442 development at Triangle, Mitsubishi can accelerate the worldwide availability of the compound.
"Mitsubishi's decision to develop MKC-442 with Triangle is logical in view of our antiviral evaluation and clinical development capability as well as our strategic marketing expertise in this field," said Dr. David Barry, Chairman and CEO of Triangle Pharmaceuticals. "Future treatments for HIV and other viral diseases will capitalize on combinations of drugs to both maintain low levels of virus and delay the development of viral resistance. The acquisition of MKC-442 marks continued progress in Triangle's efforts to enlarge the armamentarium of drugs for physicians treating HIV disease with combination therapy."
Under the option agreement, Triangle will assume responsibility for ongoing preclinical development and will conduct Phase I and Phase IIa human studies of MKC-442. The compound has shown strong anti-HIV activity in initial in vitro preclinical studies and has been found to be highly synergistic with AZT (zidovudine) in combination studies. In addition, viral resistance to MKC-442 appears to develop more slowly than with other non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The compound is well tolerated in animal toxicity tests. Patents have been issued for MKC-442 in the U.S. and Japan and are under examination in the major European countries.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation was established on October 1, 1994 as the result of the merger of Mitsubishi Kasei Corporation, Japan's premier diversified chemical company, and Mitsubishi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., one of the country's leading petrochemicals companies. The expertise and experience of its predecessors have placed Mitsubishi Chemical among the world's top 10 chemical companies and positioned it well for future growth.
Triangle Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1995 by the world's most successful antiviral drug development team to license and market novel antiviral and anticancer therapies. Previously at Wellcome plc, Triangle management played key roles in the development of Zovirax(R) (acyclovir) for genital herpes and Retrovir(R) (AZT, zidovudine) for HIV infections, the two drugs that revolutionized the treatment of viral disease. Triangle is based in Durham, North Carolina.
CONTACT: Dr. David Barry of Triangle Pharmaceuticals, 919-493-5980, or Robert Gottlieb or Betsy Godshalk of Feinstein Partners Inc., 617-577-8110/ 09:27 EST
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