Bristol-Myers Tests AIDS Drug That May Have Once-Daily Dosing
Bloomberg News
September 24, 1998, 11:52 p.m. ET
Bristol-Myers Tests AIDS Drug That May Have Once-Daily Dosing
San Diego, Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.,
the second largest U.S. drugmaker by sales, said early tests
suggest its experimental AIDS drug, a new member of the powerful
protease inhibitor class, could be effective when taken just once
a day.
If this proves to be the case in more advanced testing,
Bristol-Myers' drug would have a clear advantage over existing
protease inhibitors made by Merck & Co., Agouron Pharmaceuticals
Inc., Roche Holding AG and Abbott Laboratories.
Bristol-Myers could begin testing the drug in people with
HIV in 1999. It applied earlier this month to the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration to start extensive testing of the new drug.
Protease inhibitors can have annual sales of $400 million to $500
million.
''We're excited,'' said Richard Colonno, who leads research
into new drugs for infectious disease at Bristol-Myers. ''It has
the potential to be a once-a-day drug.''
Demand for such drugs is strong. DuPont Co. last week won
FDA approval of the first once-a-day AIDS drug, Sustiva. So far,
it has shipped more than 90,000 bottles.
People infected with HIV need simpler regimens than the
complex combinations, or ''cocktails,'' of existing drugs they
must now take. Protease inhibitors, such as Merck's Crixivan, are
taken three times a day. Common drug combinations have people
swallowing handfuls of pills five times a day.
Missed or improperly taken doses help HIV learn how to
resist the drugs. Eventually, some treatments can lose their
effectiveness, leaving people with fewer options for fighting the
potentially fatal virus.
Researchers will present studies on the new Bristol-Myers
AIDS drug this week at the Interscience Conference on
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Diego. Bristol-Myers
acquired the drug through an agreement with its original
developer, Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, Colonno said.
Bristol-Myers also will present a study that found its
experimental hepatitis drug lobucavir was more effective than the
leading approved treatment, Glaxo Wellcome Plc's 3TC, Colonno
said. The New York-based drugmaker also will present studies of a
new antibiotic, Tequin, also known as gatifloxacin. Tequin and
lobucavir are both in the last of the three stages of testing
required to apply for FDA approval.
--Kerry Dooley and Kristin Jensen in San Diego through the New |
