Chimerix And Merck Sign HIV Drug Pact

Merck & Co. will pay Chimerix $17.5 million up front for access to CMX157, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV. Chimerix could receive an additional $151 million in milestone payments as CMX157, which has completed Phase I studies, moves toward the market. CMX157 is a lipid conjugate of the already-approved HIV treatment tenofovir, marketed by Gilead Sciences as Viread. Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Chimerix says proceeds will be used to support the development of CMX001, which is expected to move into Phase III studies as a cytomegalovirus treatment in early 2013.