Medivir licenses HCV drug MIV-802 to Chinese Ascletis

Under the agreement, liver disease specialist Ascletis will fund clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation of MIV-802 in Greater China. The companies did not disclose the amount of upfront fees and milestones, Ascletis agreed to pay for the rights to the hepatitis C treatment. Preclinical data indicate that MIV-802 can be used effectively in combination with other classes of antiviral agents for the treatment of HCV, including protease inhibitors, non-nucleoside NS5B inhibitors, and NS5A inhibitors.

MIV802, which will be renamed to ASC21, is a pan-genotypic HCV nucleotide-based NS5B polymerase inhibitor that complements Asceletis’ current pipeline of hepatitis C treatments. “Ascletis has filed an NDA in China for its first HCV NS3/4A medicine, danoprevir, at the end of 2016 and has an HCV NS5A inhibitor in the late stage clinical development. By acquiring MIV-802, Asceltis is committed to treating, eventually eliminating, hepatitis C in greater China with its multiple leading antiviral combinations including MIV-802," said Dr. Jinzi J. Wu, CEO of Ascletis.

Ascletis’ pipeline of HCV inhibitors include four late-stage candidates: Danoprevir (ASC08), an NDA-filed HCV protease inhibitor, licensed from Roche; Ravidasvir (ASC16), a HCV NS5A inhibitor, licensed from Presidio Pharmaceuticals, which has completed Phase II; and ASC09, a HIV protease inhibitor, licensed from Janssen, which has completed Phase IIa testing. Additionally, Ascletis has licenced ASC06 from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a first-in-class siRNA therapeutics for the treatment of liver cancer.