Gilead Sciences today announced that it has acquired the development rights to a drug from a new class. The product, an integrase inhibitor, has been licensed from Japan Tobacco.
JTK-303 has already undergone phase I human studies in healthy volunteers in Japan, and Gilead will get phase I/II trials underway in HIV-positive volunteers later this year, the company says.
HIV’s integrase enzyme is needed for integration of HIV DNA into the DNA of human cells, so it represents a new target for drug discovery in addition to the various steps in viral entry, and the reverse transcriptase and protease enzymes already targeted by licensed drugs.
Other companies working on integrase inhibitors include Merck, which already has a product in phase I/II trials, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Glaxo SmithKline and Avexa, an Australian company.