Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Oncolys BioPharma Inc., a
privately held biotechnology company based in Japan, announced today that the
companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Bristol-Myers Squibb
will acquire exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture, develop and
commercialize festinavir, a once-a-day, orally available nucleoside reverse transcriptase
inhibitor (NRTI) in Phase II development for HIV.
“Bristol-Myers Squibb has been dedicated to helping patients
prevail over HIV for more than two decades and is committed to the ongoing
discovery, development and delivery of medicines to fight HIV/AIDS globally”
Under the terms of the agreement, Oncolys may receive up to
$286 million including upfront, development, regulatory and sales milestone
payments. Oncolys is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on the worldwide
product sales.
“Bristol-Myers Squibb has been dedicated to helping patients
prevail over HIV for more than two decades and is committed to the ongoing
discovery, development and delivery of medicines to fight HIV/AIDS globally,”
said Brian Daniels, senior vice president, Development. “The profile of festinavir
offers the possibility of improvement in the safety of long-term HIV treatment,
an area of significant unmet medical need.”
President & CEO of Oncolys BioPharma, Mr. Yasuo Urata
said, “I’m honored to have completed this license agreement with Bristol-Myers
Squibb for the development and commercialization of festinavir. For many years
I have been working for the development of medicines in the fight against
HIV/AIDS, and I’m convinced that festinavir has the possibility to be a potent
and effective NRTI with a promising resistance profile. Also festinavir’s
once-daily dosage is essential for treating HIV patients worldwide.”
