Tibotec Enters Agreement With BMS for Phase II Combination Study


Bristol-Myers Squibb Company recently announced it has entered into a clinical collaboration agreement with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, to evaluate the utility of daclatasvir (BMS-790052), Bristol-Myers Squibb’s investigational NS5A replication complex inhibitor, in combination with Tibotec Pharmaceuticals’ investigational NS3 protease inhibitor, TMC435, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Under the agreement, the companies will evaluate the potential to achieve sustained viral response 12 and 24 weeks post treatment in patients with HCV genotype 1 in a study with three treatment regimens: an oral, once-daily treatment regimen of daclatasvir and TMC435 with pegylated-interferon alpha plus ribavirin; an oral, once-daily treatment regimen of daclatasvir and TMC435 with ribavirin and an oral, once-daily treatment regimen of daclatasvir and TMC435 alone. The study is planned to start in the first half of 2012.

“Bristol-Myers Squibb is dedicated to developing innovative treatment options for patients with serious diseases like HCV,” said Brian Daniels, Senior Vice President, Development. “We are pleased to work with Tibotec to advance the scientific understanding for the potential for an all-oral regimen of direct-acting antivirals, which would be an important advancement for patients with HCV. This is a continuation of our leadership in forging partnerships to advance combination antiviral therapy.”

Discovered by Bristol-Myers Squibb through a genomics approach, daclatasvir is the first NS5A replication complex inhibitor to be investigated in clinical trials and is currently in Phase III development. Daclatasvir is part of a portfolio of investigational compounds that the company is developing for the treatment of hepatitis C.