ViiV Healthcare has completed its acquisition of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s portfolio of HIV research and development assets, having secured antitrust clearance from authorities in the US.
Under the two separate transactions, ViiV has snapped up BMS’ late-stage HIV R&D for an initial upfront payment of $317 million plus potential milestones of $518 million and tiered royalties on sales, as well as its preclinical and discovery-stage HIV research business for an upfront payment of $33 million, milestones of up to $587 million, and further consideration depending on future sales performance.
Late stage assets include fostemsavir (BMS-663068), an attachment inhibitor currently in Phase III development for heavily treatment experienced patients, which is on target for filing in 2018, and maturation inhibitor BMS-955176, currently in Phase IIb development for both treatment-naive and treatment experienced patients.
Further back in the pipeline, the assets include a novel biologic (BMS-986197) with a triple mechanism of action, an additional maturation inhibitor, an allosteric integrase inhibitor and a capsid inhibitor.
The move gives ViiV, which is majority owned by GSK, with Pfizer and Shionogi as shareholders, “one of the most robust HIV pipelines in the industry,” noted chief executive Dominique Limet. “The assets that we have acquired complement our existing portfolio and could lead to new medicines and combinations addressing a broad range of treatment and prevention needs of people living with HIV.”
