Bristol-Myers Squibb terminates MIV-170 agreement

Bristol-Myers Squibb has terminated its agreement with Medivir to develop the company’s MIV-170 preclinical polymerase inhibitor. This decision was made after the compound failed to meet the company’s desired profile.

The drug candidate belongs to the group of polymerase inhibitors whose development has already been discontinued by Medivir, which are currently administered by its subsidiary Medivir HIV Franchise.

MIV-170 had previously demonstrated “excellent” potency in vitro with an improved barrier to resistance exhibited in pre-clinical studies, Bristol-Myers Squibb reported last year, with the compound then hoped to provide a new treatment option for patients with HIV.

Bo Oberg, chief executive officer of Medivir HIV Franchise, said: “Everyone is aware of the obvious risks in early pharmaceutical development.

“MIV-170 has not yet reached clinical development and statistically half of all pharmaceutical projects fail in this early pre-clinical development phase.”

Medivir claims that funds paid to it by Bristol-Myers Squibb as part of their agreement have exceeded the company’s own investment into the development of the compound.

The companies had signed a deal for the development and commercialisation of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor in September 2006, through which Bristol-Myers Squibb agreed to pay an initial sum of $7.5 million (3.72 million pounds).