Gilead, Merck agreement to develop HIV treatments lenacapavir and islatravir

California-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. and New Jersey-based Merck have announced their agreement to develop and commercialise the long-acting HIV treatments lenacapavir and islatravir.

The treatments combine Merck’s investigational nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor, islatravir, and Gilead’s investigational capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, in the form of a two-drug regimen with the potential to provide meaningful treatment options for people suffering from HIV.

Both the inhibitors are potentially first-in-class medicines in late-stage clinical trials. The oral combination’s first clinical studies are expected to begin in the latter half of 2021. Gilead and Merck will be partners under the terms of the agreement, and will be sharing operational responsibilities, as well as development, commercialisation and marketing costs, and any future revenues.

The two pharma firms seek to transform HIV care with focus on long-acting therapies as the field of HIV treatment evolves to provide additional options for HIV sufferers and their physicians.

Merck chairman and chief executive officer Kenneth C. Frazier said: “At Merck, we are resolute in our commitment to advancing the care of people living with HIV as part of our mission to save and improve lives. This collaboration with Gilead brings together two companies dedicated to the fight against HIV to develop potential new long-acting treatment options, and is an important step forward in our strategy to harness the full potential of islatravir for the treatment of HIV.”

Gilead Sciences chairman and chief executive officer Daniel O’Day said: “Through this agreement with Merck, Gilead is reinforcing its long-term role in transforming HIV care. Our work in HIV over the past decades has been shaped by listening to people living with HIV and the physicians who treat them. Now we are taking the same approach with long-acting therapies, combining the most advanced science from both companies to accelerate progress.”

Lenacapavir and islatravir are still investigational and have not been approved globally.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cowen & Company LLC will be financial advisor to Gilead, while Hogan Lovells and White & Case, LLP are serving as Gilead’s legal counsel.

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Gibson Dunn will be the legal counsel for Merck.