MSD in-licenses new HIV drug programme

Biopharmaceutical firm Ambrilia Biopharma has signed a licensing agreement giving an affiliate of Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) exclusive worldwide rights to its HIV/AIDS protease inhibitor program.

MSD has been granted the rights to PPL-100, which has undergone Phase I single-dose clinical trials and is currently being tested at Phase I for repeat doses.

In exchange, Ambrilia Biopharma received $17 million (9.1 million pounds) upon signing the contract, with further amounts up to $215 million (115.5 million pounds) to be paid dependent on development, regulatory, clinical and sales progress.

Merv Turner, senior vice president of worldwide licensing and external research at MSD, hailed the decision as an example of the company’s commitment to HIV/AIDS medicine research.

“PPL-100 and Ambrilia’s protease inhibitor program represent a potentially significant advancement for patients and physicians in the treatment of HIV/AIDS,” he said.

Last month, Ambrilia Biopharma presented a poster regarding in-vitro and in-vivo metabolism of PPL-100 at the 46th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

In August, MSD revealed that its investigational MK-0518 treatment for HIV yielded a “significant reduction” in viral load in patients during clinical trials.