Chimerix Initiates A Multi-Dose Clinical Trial Of The Company’s Lead Compound, CMX001, For The Treatment For Smallpox Infection
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, December 11, 2007 - Chimerix, Inc., a biotechnology company developing orally available antiviral therapeutics, announced today that the Company has initiated a multi-dose trial with its lead drug candidate, CMX001, an oral treatment for smallpox infection. This trial will study the pharmacokinetics and safety of three doses of the drug given to healthy volunteers.
“The high oral availability demonstrated by CMX001 in the Phase I trial has validated the utility of the company’s lipid technology, ProLipTag™ and creates optimism for the potential of this drug candidate,” said Dr. George Painter, Chimerix President and CEO. “In addition to smallpox, we believe that CMX001 has great potential in treating other serious infections such as human papillomavirus and cytomegalovirus.”
CMX001 is being developed for the treatment of smallpox infection and other double stranded DNA virus infections that cause significant human morbidity and mortality. A safe, orally active antiviral drug for smallpox is needed to provide a means of treating people who become ill post exposure to the disease or who cannot be vaccinated. Chimerix has previously demonstrated that single doses of CMX001 provided excellent drug exposure and were well tolerated in healthy volunteers. CMX001 is being developed for smallpox under a licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. The work is partially funded by a $36.1 million grant awarded to the company by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease.
About Chimerix
Chimerix Inc. discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics with enhanced pharmaceutical properties that are active against a broad range of viral diseases. Leveraging a powerful lipid, prodrug technology, ProLipTag™, Chimerix is able to develop drug candidates with oral-availability, increased potency and targeted delivery. These enhanced pharmaceutical properties can be applied to new drug moieties or known drugs to improve dosing parameters, broaden therapeutic applications and decrease the risk of adverse events.
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