Bristol's Hep C Drug Blow Up May Benefit Gilead, Idenix, Vertex Pharma

Gilead's GS-7977 is the most advanced nuc in clinical development, with multiple phase III studies already underway. Idenix is moving its nuc IDX-184 into phase II combination studies. On Monday, Vertex announced the first erly-stage, proof-of-concept data for its nuc ALS-2200 that showed the drug's potency to be comparable to that of GS-7977.

"This is clearly a significant positive for Gilead, who sees what we previously perceived as their most significant potential competitor in the Hep C space effectively taken out of the race," writes Brean Murray Carret analyst Brian Skorney in a Thursday morning research note. "We expect increased focus on Vertex and Idenix as the only other companies with nucs in clinical development that could be entertained as a GS-7977 competitor. But the increased scarcity value resulting from the Bristol failure should be carefully measured against an increased risk. Nucleos(t)ide analogs for Hep C have run into safety issues in mid‐stage studies at an alarming rate."

--Written by Adam Feuerstein in Boston.

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