Abbott Increases Stake In Anti-Infectives

Underlining its intentions for anti-infectives in 1996, Abbott Laboratories has entered into a collaboration with Swedish viriology specialist Medivir AB for the development and commercialization of antiviral drugs, including the antiherpetic agent H2G and an HIV therapy currently in development at Medivir.

In return for R&D funding, milestone payments and a royalty on sales of resulting Medivir/Abbott products, Medivir will license to Abbott exclusive worldwide rights to all compounds developed under the collaboration. In addition, Abbott gains exclusive licensing rights to certain existing Medivir patents, including those on H2G, an acyclic guanosine analogue that has shown activity against several herpes viruses, including viruses of the Herpes simplex, varicella zoster, Epstein-Barr and human herpes virus varieties, and a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Incyte Deal For Gene Database Meantime, Abbott has taken out a subscription with Incyte Pharmaceuticals for access to Incyte's gene sequence and expression database LIFESEQ. The contract includes a pass into Incyte's satellite database services, which provide genetic information on microbial genomes and cater for the sequencing of specific cells or tissues.