Pharmasset to receive $7.5M from Roche under HCV drug accord

New Jersey, USA-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Pharmasset says that Swiss drug major Roche has initiated long-term toxicology studies of R7128, a hepatitis C infection treatment the two firms are developing. The move triggers a $7.5 million milestone payment to Pharmasset as stipulated under their 2004 collaboration deal (Marketletters passim).

The agent is a prodrug of the polymerase inhibitor PSI-6130 which has previously demonstrated antiviral activity in preclinical assessments. The toxicology study, which will be conducted in animal models, is designed to examine the safety of R7128 given over a six-month period.

In addition, preliminary data from an ongoing Phase I trial of the drug in healthy volunteers suggests that it is well tolerated, and that it is not associated with any adverse gastrointestinal events.