Glaxo SmithKline announced today that it is terminating the development of brecanavir, a new protease inhibitor licensed from Vertex, because of problems in developing an oral formulation of the drug.
The drug had reached phase II trials and early results in treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients appeared promising. However, today the company said in a press release: “This decision has been taken as we have been unable to develop a viable oral dosage formulation capable of delivering the desired drug levels in patients with multi-drug-resistant HIV.”
People currently receiving brecanavir in clinical trials will be moved over to other therapies as appropriate.
The decision to discontinue development is a blow to Glaxo SmithKline’s hopes to develop a portfolio of new anti-HIV drugs. Last year the company was forced to abandon development of an agent in a new class of drugs, a chemokine antagonist, because of serious liver enzyme elevations and liver toxicity in three patients.