Pharmaceutical Business review

Pharco to develop Presidio’s NS5A inhibitor PPI-668 for HCV in Egypt

With the exclusive license, Pharco will now be able to expand its licensed territory to one or more additional countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Pharco Pharmaceuticals vice chairman and chief executive officer Dr Sherine Helmy said: "We believe that PPI-668, in combination with other therapeutic agents offers another potential path to treat and, hopefully, cure patients."

Presidio chief scientific officer Richard Colonno said: "PPI-668 is a potent HCV NS5A inhibitor with a favorable pharmacokinetic profile that has shown high SVR rates in combination with other direct acting antiviral agents."

Under the deal, Pharco will fund clinical development and commercialization of PPI-668 in Egypt, and potentially the MENA region.

In return, Presidio will be eligible to receive upfront and development milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on product net sales in Egypt and potentially the MENA region.