Boehringer Ingelheim and Medivir sign novel agreement

Boehringer Ingelheim and Medivir have signed an agreement for a novel HIV/AIDS antiviral Medivir, a Swedish drug research and development company, has out-licensed its innovative HIV antiviral, MIV-310, to Boehringer Ingelheim.

MIV-310 is an extremely potent inhibitor of reverse transcriptase and belongs to the nucleoside analogue class (NRTI). Currently, it is in phase II clinical development. In contrast to conventional nucleoside analogues on the market, preclinical and clinical results show that MIV-310 has a unique activity against multi-drug resistant HIV-1.

Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will make upfront and milestone payments to Medivir totalling up to e122 m in the event that all development and performance milestones are met. Medivir will also receive a double-digit royalty on product sales. Boehringer Ingelheim receives exclusive global marketing rights, except for the Nordic countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland), which are retained by Medivir. Responsibility for pharmaceutical and clinical development rests with Boehringer Ingelheim.

There are currently over 40 million HIV/AIDS positive people, of which 1.4m are in the industrialised world. A significant proportion of these have drug-resistant virus. In a newly published study, it was revealed that 70% of patients in the industrialised world are virus-resistant to current NRTI antivirals.

'For Medivir, it is an important milestone, and a clear sign of our excellence within polymerase research, again to be able to out-licence an HIV project', commented Lars Adlersson, ceo of Medivir. 'It is rewarding to be able to contribute new hope to people living with resistant HIV.'

'We are pleased to have concluded this agreement and look forward to collaborating with Medivir on MIV-310', said Dr Andreas Barner, member of the board of managing directors at Boehringer Ingelheim, responsible for r&d and Medicine. 'Together with the marketed non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor Viramune, and the protease inhibitor tipranavir, currently in phase III of clinical development, MIV-310 will complement Boehringer Ingelheim's HIV drug development portfolio.'