Swedish firm Medivir inks research partnership pact with GVK Bio

The Swedish pharmaceutical company Medivir AB on June 16, 2015 entered into a partnership with the Hyderabad-based GVK Biosciences Private Ltd in order to increase its focus within the core areas of oncology and infectious diseases. With this tie-up, the Swedish firm is aiming to deliver enhanced efficiency and quality within its portfolio of research projects while over time reducing overall research costs and enhancing future cost flexibility.
 
“To ensure that its operations are run as efficiently as possible, Medivir has conducted a review of its discovery research operations. While committed to maintaining the current size of its discovery portfolio to deliver a constant flow of candidate drugs into its development pipeline, it has identified the opportunity to improve quality and efficiency through partnership with GVK Bio,” said Medivir in a press release.
 
The partnership will consolidate and strengthen all current out-sourced synthetic chemistry in a single facility at GVK Bio’s Integrated Discovery Research Campus, where an addition of approximately 20 scientific staff will further accelerate the synthesis and testing of compounds.
 
Medivir has also decided to exit the neuropathic pain area, following adverse findings in non-clinical safety studies of MIV-247, its cathepsin S inhibitor being developed for neuropathic pain. Development of this program has been terminated and future drug discovery efforts will be focused in the core areas of oncology and infectious diseases.
 
As a result of the changes described above, around ten scientific staff at Medivir facilities in the UK and Sweden will be made redundant.
 
“We continue to assess all aspects of the productivity and cost-effectiveness of our businesses in order to drive innovation and maximise share-holder value. This reorganisation and resource optimisation will improve efficiency and enhance our ability to deliver well-differentiated candidate drugs into our development pipeline while over time reducing overall research costs and improving cost flexibility, and we look forward to a productive partnership with our colleagues at GVK Bio,” said Niklas Prager, CEO, Medivir.
 
Manni Kantipudi, CEO, GVK Bio, added, “We are excited about GVK Bio’s partnership with Medivir. Medivir chose GVK Bio over several other CROs on the basis of its scientific strength and its ability to perform integrated research with chemistry and biology.”