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news.EB Pharma has entered into an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica to obtain exclusive license to assess tipifarnib in the field of virology and as a related, clinical stage back-up compound.
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The company will assess the efficacy and tolerability of tipifarnib as a potential new therapy for patients infected with Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV).
The Eiger BioPharmaceuticals subsidiary is currently conducting clinical studies in patients infected with HDV, which is claimed to be the most severe form of viral hepatitis in humans.
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals president and chief executive officer David Cory said: "HDV is the least common but has the poorest outcome of all forms of viral hepatitis.
"We are excited to license tipifarnib from Janssen and study a potential new therapy for this life threatening disease."
Stanford University scientific founder and associate professor of medicine Jeffrey Glenn said: "This novel approach to treating HDV is the culmination of decades of research.
"I think it has the potential to change the treatment paradigm for the worst form of human viral hepatitis, and offers new hope for these patients."
Tipifarnib is a late stage, orally active inhibitor of farnesyl transferase, an enzyme involved in modification of proteins through a process called prenylation.
Specifically, Tipifarnib inhibits the prenylation step of HDV replication inside liver cells and blocks the ability of the virus to multiply, and is not approved for sale for any indication.