Medivir signs Hepatitis C agreement with Chiron

Medivir signs Hepatitis C agreement with Chiron A collaboration between Medivir and Chiron has started in the important area of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. Compound libraries from Medivir will be screened in Chiron's battery of HCV assays. The validation of potential hits and their use in the investigation of structure-activity relationship will be performed during an initial period of one year, after which time Chiron may choose to continue the collaboration by providing additional support. During the collaboration, Chiron has an option to secure exclusive global commercialisation rights. Exercise of the option could result in license and milestone fees for Medivir in excess of $10 million (U.S.) for products developed towards an NDA. Furthermore, Medivir will receive royalty on future product sales. "We have come to know Medivir well during the past years through our numerous collaborations," says Jacob Plattner, Chiron's vice president of small molecule discovery research. "As we believe Medivir has a unique know-how in the field of antiviral compounds and a valuable, compound library, we are pleased to expand into this new collaboration." Because of Medivir's concentration on inhibitors of two specific enzyme classes, proteases and polymerases, Medivir is proprietor of a number of mechanistically focussed compound libraries. Three of these focussed libraries are ideally suited to the enzymes expressed by HCV. Experience has shown that the hit rate with such focussed libraries is very much higher than with the random screens which have thus far been attempted in the HCV field, without success. Additionally, Medivir has a number of hit compounds identified by in-house work on HCV surrogate systems, which can now be validated with the more sophisticated Chiron assays. Hepatitis C is a major disease around the world. Chiron has been a substantial contributor to the HCV field. The company's successful 1987 cloning of HCV and follow-on research resulted in an extensive patent portfolio and R&D programs in several diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic product areas. Chiron has been granted more than 100 HCV- related patents worldwide. Chiron's HCV technologies have prevented millions of cases of HCV infection. Many millions of people in the industrialised countries are chronically infected with HCV, which leads to liver cancers in a significant proportion of patients. Current therapies (ribavirin, interferon) are inadequate with have high relapse rates and severe side effects. Medivir is an innovative and specialized research company active in the pharmaceuticals sphere, located in Cambridge, UK and Huddinge, Sweden. Medivir's research focuses on the development of new pharmaceutical compounds as inhibitors of target enzymes with protease or polymerase activity. The research portfolio includes projects against HIV, jaundice, shingles, cold sores, osteoporosis and autoimmune disorders. Medivir has five projects in clinical development. Of these, two are moving towards for phase III trials after having completed phase II trials. Two are in phase I and one is entering phase II. Medivir's pre-clinical research encompasses a number of projects, of which two are in their lead optimization phase and one is entering the late pre-clinical stage. For more information about Medivir, visit the company's web site at http://www.medivir.se Chiron Corporation, headquartered in Emeryville, California, is a leading biotechnology company that participates in three global healthcare markets: biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and blood testing. The company is applying an integrated scientific approach to the development of innovative products for preventing and treating cancer and infection. For more information about Chiron, visit the company's web site at http://www.chiron.com. This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A full discussion of Chiron's operations and financial condition, including factors that may affect its business and future prospects, is contained in documents the company files with the SEC, such as forms 10-Q and 10-K. These documents identify important factors that could cause the company's actual performance to differ from current expectations, including the outcome of clinical trials, regulatory review, manufacturing capabilities and marketing effectiveness. For further information, please contact: Jonas Frick, CEO Medivir, +46 8 608 3117, +46 70 648 6761 or Rein Piir, CFO/VP IR Medivir, +46 8 608 3123, +46 708 53 7292 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/08/30/20010830BIT00760/bit0002.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/08/30/20010830BIT00760/bit0002.pdf