In addition to handing Viriom pre-clinical stage products belonging to the new class of drugs called non-nucleoside inhibitors of reverse transcriptase, Roche will provide scientific training and will take a seat on the company’s board. Royalties from resulting sales in these markets will be paid to Roche, which will retain rights in other territories.
Viriom now takes on full responsibility for developing the compounds in Russia, including pre-clinical research and initiation of clinical studies, which are expected to begin in 2010.
This is a “pioneering partnership with a young Russian company,” which “represents a completely new concept for Russia,” said Milos Petrovic, General Manager of Roche Moscow Ltd.
Andrey Ivashenko, General Manager of Viriom Ltd, said, “We are honoured that Roche has chosen our company as a partner for development of a new HIV treatment. Coupled with Roche’s expertise in the HIV field and global drug development, we believe that this promising opportunity will open new channels in the worldwide fight against AIDS.”
Viriom Ltd, established in 2009 to develop treatments for HIV/AIDS treatment, is based at the Centre of High Technologies ChemRar, an emerging, privately-owned, biocluster/incubator. It is hoped the deal with Roche will foster the development of the cluster.
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