GSK pays£80m for royalty rights to HIV drugs
05 Jun 2008
UK-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has bought the royalty rights to two HIV drugs from Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
The drugmaker has paid $160 million (£80 million) for the future royalties to Lexiva and Agenerase.
Lexiva is an HIV protease inhibitor which was discovered jointly by GSK and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Commenting on the move, Ian Smith, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, said: "The sale of this non-core financial asset provides us with significant capital and strengthens our financial position to support investment into key programs and future initiatives for our business."
In related news, GSK recently said that three studies into its cancer treatment Tykerb had found that it demonstrated "activity" when used in combination with other treatments and as a monotherapy in patients with HER2 positive breast cancer.
The findings were based on a Phase II trial involving 141 patients and some of the adverse effects experienced by those taking the combination of therapies included diarrhoea, rash, nausea and hypertension.
