Inhibitex and FermaVir sign merger deal

Biopharmaceutical firm Inhibitex says that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement with fellow USA-based company FermaVir Pharmaceuticals. Inhibitex said that the move was designed to boost its drug pipeline, in a transaction that will see the Atlanta-headquartered group gain a range of antiviral products being developed by FermaVir.

Inhibitex explained that the deal will see it gain access to FV-100, a prodrug of CV-1743 being developed by FermaVir. It added that the agent has demonstrated potent antiviral efficacy in the treatment of shingles, based on its ability to rapidly enter cells and inhibit viral replication, thereby reducing the occurrence of disease-related symptoms such post-herpetic neuralgia.

Inhibitex said that FermaVir's development of therapies for cytomegalovirus infection had also influenced its decision to purchase. The firm went on to say that it expects that the CMV program, which includes a range of nucleoside and non-nucleoside analogs that appear to have unique and differing mechanisms of action, to yield a lead drug candidate suitable for assessment in trials by the end of the year.