Vertex Pharmaceuticals, fresh off its recent FDA approval of Incivek (telaprevir) for the treatment of hepatitis C infection, announced a new deal with Alios Pharmaceuticals for up to $775 million in development milestones for two programs - ALS 2200 and ALS 2158. By acquiring these, Vertex hopes to develop hepatitis C cocktails that will cement its leadership position in the market by removing the need to continue the use of interferon.
ALS 2000 and ALS 2158 are both nucleotide analogs that offer a high barrier to drug resistance, can be taken orally, and may only require a once a day dosage. Further, both have fewer side effects than interferon that often causes flu-like symptoms to the patient. Thus the combined package of Incivek and the new drugs offer the opportunity to improve the safety, efficacy and ease of administration for the patient. See Fierce Biotech.
Posted by Bruce Lehr June 14th 2011.
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