Bristol-Myers Squibb collaborates with Pharmasset on combo hep C drug trial

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement to evaluate its utility of BMS-790052, an NS5A replication complex inhibitor, in combination with fellow USA-based Pharmasset’s (Nasdaq: VRUS) PSI-7977, a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

This proof-of-concept study will evaluate the potential to achieve sustained viral response 24 weeks post treatment with an oral, once-daily treatment regimen in patients across HCV genotypes. Specifically, the study will assess the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of BMS-790052 in combination with PSI-7977, with and without ribavirin, in treatment-naive patients chronically infected with HCV genotypes 1, 2, and 3. The study is planned to start in the first half of 2011. This collaboration represents the first cross-company collaboration combining two oral agents to address a significant unmet medical need in the treatment of HCV.

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