Gilead Sciences Inc.
raked in $10 billion last year with its Sovaldi pill for hepatitis C.
Many of the people responsible for the drug are now competing to repeat
that success for a more common liver disease: hepatitis B.
At OnCore Biopharma, the team seeking a cure is an honor roll of Sovaldi graduates. The drug’s principal inventor, Michael Sofia, founded OnCore with a sales executive from Pharmasset Inc., where Sovaldi originated. At ContraVir Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Chimerix Inc., the leadership ranks are similarly peppered with Gilead and Pharmasset alumni.
“We’re gunning for a cure,” Sofia said. “With
Sovaldi, we clearly brought innovation with the drug’s discovery and
getting it to market. We feel we can translate that experience to hep
B.”
Read more...Labels: drugs in development, TKM-HBV