Vertex Pharma signs deals with several J&J companies to develop HCV drug VX-950

USA-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals says it has agreed a deal worth $545.0 million with Irish firm Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, under which the latter will sell the former's promising hepatitis C treatment VX-950, outside the USA. The firms also announced that they will establish a global health initiative to increase prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of this infection, primarily aimed at developing countries.

The initiative is part of a pre-existing agreement between Vertex and another J&J affiliate, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, which covers the development and commercialization of the product in Europe, South America, the Middle East, Africa and Australia. Under this deal, Vertex retains exclusive commercial rights to the drug in North America.

VX-950 is an investigational oral inhibitor of hepatitis C viral protease, the correct functioning of which is vital for viral replication. As with other antiviral therapies, the specific focus on the prevention of viral replication addresses the burden associated with chronic infection, in this case that of liver disease, rather than preventing infection.