Chimerix and ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Establish Strategic Collaboration for Antiviral Drug Candidate CMX157
Chimerix, Inc. and ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration for the further clinical development and commercialization of CMX157. CMX157 is a highly potent analog of the successful antiviral drug tenofovir DF (Viread®).
Under the agreement, ContraVir licenses CMX157 from Chimerix in exchange for an upfront payment consisting of 120,000 shares of ContraVir preferred stock with a stated value of $1.2 million. In addition, Chimerix is eligible to receive up to approximately $20 million in clinical, regulatory and initial commercial milestones in the United States and Europe, as well as royalties and additional milestones based on commercial sales in those territories.
CMX157 is a novel lipid acyclic nucleoside phosphonate that delivers high intracellular concentrations of the active antiviral agent tenofovir diphosphate. CMX157 is active against HBV and more than 200-fold more potent in vitro versus tenofovir against all major HIV subtypes resistant to current therapies. CMX157's novel structure results in decreased circulating levels of tenofovir, lowering systemic exposure and thereby reducing the potential for renal side effects. It has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers, demonstrating a favorable safety, tolerability and drug distribution profile. ContraVir intends to develop CMX157 for HBV and HIV.
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