Avexa enters apricitabine deal with Novasep

Australian biotechnology firm Avexa has signed a manufacturing agreement for the production of apricitabine, its nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV, with France-based Novasep. The agreement covers the continued production, process optimization and further scale-up of the active pharmaceutical ingredient of apricitabine-based upon the Varicol continuous chromatography system, for use in Phase III clinical trials and in preparation for the commercial launch of the product.

Avexa is a Melbourne-based biotechnology company with a focus on R&D of drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases. The company's lead program, apricitabine, is currently in Phase IIb clinical trials. Recruitment for this stage of its evaluation was completed at the end of the year and the results are due in the first quarter.