Monday, March 2, 2009

NanoViricides in potential licensing talks with big pharma

By Marc Songini

Drug startup NanoViricides Inc. is making a move toward a licensing agreement with an unnamed major pharmaceutical company for one of its drug candidates.

To that end, West Haven, Conn.-based NanoViricides (OTC BB: NNVC.OB) reported that it has signed a material transfer agreement with the pharmaceutical company. According to the terms of the agreement, the pharmaceutical firm will have an independent consultant evaluate one of the company’s drugs. The drug in question is designed to treat viral infections of the external eye, including those caused by adenovirus and herpes virus.

The companies are operating with the understanding that if the testing of the drug has a positive outcome, they will proceed with negotiations for a potential long-term, exclusive, worldwide licensing development and sales agreement for the drug. The agreement forbids disclosing the identity of the pharmaceutical company or even the deal’s exact terms, according to NanoViricides.

According to NanoViricides, its drug has already been shown to work against an adenovirus-caused external eye disease called epidemic kerato-conjunctivitis. Researchers reported that there was rapid clinical improvement in treated animals that had adenoviral epidemic kerato-conjunctivitis. Additionally, using computer modeling, NanoViricides thinks the broad-spectrum nature of the ligand in the drug will be effective against herpes virus.

Both herpes virus and some adenoviruses cause most cases of keratitis, a serious infection of the cornea. Additionally, the market for viral conjunctivitis is worth billions of dollars annually, the company claimed. There are some 250,000 cases of severe herpes keratitis in the United States; the number of cases for non-specific conjunctivitis runs potentially in the tens of millions in the United States.

The company’s new nanoviricide class of drug candidates are meant to attack enveloped virus particles and dismantle them. The firm is developing drugs for viral diseases, including H5N1 bird flu, seasonal influenza, HIV, hepatitis C, rabies, dengue fever and Ebola virus.