Avexa Still Seeks Hiv Drug Partner

The Age

Friday April 18, 2008

Ari Sharp, Biotechnology Reporter

DRUG developer Avexa has appointed a mergers and acquisitions expert to its board as it continues to search for a commercial partner for its late-stage anti-HIV drug, apricitabine.

The company was dealt a blow last year when European and US regulators indicated the drug would need to double its phase III clinical trials, adding significantly to the cost of developing the drug.

The hiccup meant that the company's $80 million capital-raising effort last year was no longer adequate and that meant it needed to seek a commercial partner to share the costs of the enlarged clinical trial program. So far only a collaborative agreement with San Francisco testing company Monogram Biosciences has been signed.

Estimates of the cost of the trials, which will require 1800 patients at multiple sites, have been put at $100 million, a figure Avexa chief executive Julian Chick said was "in the space".

The new appointee to the board is Nathan Drona, an investment banker with mergers and acquisitions experience who was most recently managing director of New York-based advisory firm Challiss.

"With Avexa's phase III trial for apricitabine under way and as international interest in the company continues to grow, I think the company has tremendous potential for success," Mr Drona said.

In a report to shareholders late last month, the company said the search for a commercial partner was "well under way".

Dr Chick declined to give an update on the progress of negotiations, but said that despite an increase in costs in the first quarter of this year due to the start of the trials, the company still had a strong cash position.

"We're fine at this point in time," he said. "No problem in regard to a cash position and I have no doubt that we'll have a deal before that becomes an issue for us."

The company expects to file its drug approval data with the US Food and Drug Administration in the second half of 2010.

Avexa yesterday closed up 1.5?, or 4.8%, at 33?.

© 2008 The Age

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