Eiger BioPharmaceuticals to Develop BMS’ Lambda for HDV

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced that it has licensed Pegylated Interferon Lambda-1a (Lambda), a novel, well-characterized, first in class Type III interferon to be studied as an investigational therapy for hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection, from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Lambda has been administered in clinical trials involving over 3,000 subjects. It has not been approved for any indication. Eiger plans to evaluate Lambda as a potential monotherapy and combination treatment for chronic HDV infection, the most aggressive and deadly form of human viral hepatitis.

The exclusive worldwide license from Bristol-Myers Squibb involved an upfront payment and the issuance of Eiger Common Stock and includes development and regulatory milestones through first commercial sale in the US, EU, and Japan and milestone payments based on commercial sales achievement as well as tiered annual net sales royalties.

Lonafarnib is a well-characterized, late-stage, orally active inhibitor of farnesyl transferase, an enzyme involved in modification of proteins through a process called prenylation. HDV uses this host cell process inside liver cells to complete a key step in its life cycle. Lonafarnib inhibits the prenylation step of HDV replication inside liver cells and blocks the virus life cycle at the stage of assembly. Since prenylation is carried out by a host enzyme, this compound may present a higher barrier to development of viral resistance mutations to therapy. Lonafarnib has been dosed in over 100 HDV-infected patients across international academic centers and is in phase 2 development for HDV. Lonafarnib has been granted Orphan Drug designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Fast Track Designation by US FDA. Lonafarnib is not approved for any indication, and is licensed from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. (known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada).