Following the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease's (AASLD) 2010 meeting in Boston in early November, it was increasingly clear that Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc./Johnson & Johnson's telaprevir and Merck & Co. Inc.'s boceprevir, both experimental protease inhibitors in Phase III, would be changing the treatment paradigm for hepatitis C in the near future. NDAs for both drugs are slated to be filed by the end of 2010 with approval expected sometime in 2011. ( See "In HCV, Protease Race Heats Up with Combo Therapy Looming," IN VIVO , May 2009 Also see "In HCV, Protease Race Heats Up with Combo Therapy Looming " - In Vivo, 1 May, 2009..)
Start-Ups Look For Places In Future HCV Combo Regimens
With more than 50 drugs in development for hepatitis C, what comes next after first-generation protease inhibitors and what opportunity might there be for small start-up firms in a space where so many Big Pharma and specialty pharma companies are active? Approvals of direct-acting antiviral therapies are just around the corner in hepatitis C, and smaller companies are looking to provide parts of the puzzle in next-generation drug cocktails that will tackle the growing disease. However, in order for small companies to succeed in this highly competitive space they'll need highly differentiated products. START-UP profiles AiCuris, Avila Therapeutics, Okairos, Viroblock and Zirus.
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