Pharmasset, Inc. announced results from a Phase 2 study of Reverset, which is being co-developed with Incyte Corporation for the treatment of HIV-infected patients. The data was presented at the 11th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco by clinical investigator Robert Murphy, professor of Infectious Diseases at Northwestern University. The study demonstrated a marked reduction in viral load of more than 1.7 log10 after 10 days of monotherapy treatment with no serious drug related adverse events.

"Reverset is a drug with the potential to be the best in its therapeutic class. It is one of the most potent and promising anti-HIV agents in clinical development," remarked inventor and professor Raymond Schinazi.

Reverset, a nucleoside analog that targets the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase enzyme, is being developed under an approved US FDA Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the treatment of HIV-infected individuals. Preclinical in vitro studies have shown that Reverset inhibits replication of drug-resistant HIV strains commonly seen after treatment with zidovudine (ZDV) and lamivudine (3TC).

"Pharmasset has diligently managed the clinical development of Reverset through this Phase 2 study, which is further testament to the company's business and scientific goals of successfully advancing new therapeutics for life-threatening diseases from discovery to the clinic," stated Dr Abel Rosa, Pharmasset's senior vice president of Business and Scientific Development. "Going forward, our strategic collaborative license agreement with Incyte will provide the added support and clinical expertise to continue the rapid development of Reverset toward regulatory approval and commercialization."