Drugmakers Jockey for Piece of Future Hepatitis C Combo Pill

Drugmakers Jockey for Piece of Future Hepatitis C Combo Pill

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Ryan Flinn and Drew Armstrong
Feb 15, 2012 12:42 am ET

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) --

With more than two dozen drugs in development, doctors predict a new age of therapy for a bloodborne virus carried by 170 million people that now has few treatment options. The promise of a potential $20 billion market has already spurred three deals in the last year, the latest Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.’s $2.5 billion purchase this month of Inhibitex Inc. 

Next in line may be Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc., said Raghuram Selvaraju, an analyst with Morgan Joseph TriArtisan in New York.

“I don’t think either of these companies will remain independent very long,” Selvaraju said in a telephone interview. “I think we’ll see both of them out of there by the end of the year.”

Blocking the Virus

Achillion, based in New Haven, Connecticut, is testing a so-called protease inhibitor, while Idenix, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing a nucleotide polymerase inhibitor. The two medicines, which work differently to block the virus’s ability to replicate in the body, are in the second of three stages of testing normally required for U.S. approval.....

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