The worst-case scenario has played out for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s expensive investment in Inhibitex Inc. and its mid-stage nucleoside polymerase inhibitor (“nuc”) for hepatitis C – after halting a Phase II trial Aug. 1 due to one patient dosed with the compound suffering serious cardiac complications, the pharma announced Aug. 23 that it has ceased all development of BMS-986-094. The Princeton, N.J.-based pharma will take a non-cash, pre-tax impairment charge of $1.8 billion during the third quarter related to the failure.
Bristol paid roughly $2.5 billion this past January to buy out Inhibitex, largely on the clinical promise shown by its lead candidate, the nuc then known as INX-189 [See Deal]. BMS-094 was one of only four nucs in clinical development for hepatitis C – Gilead Sciences Inc. (GS-7997) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALS-2200) control two of the others, while Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc