Medivir is a Swedish
biotech company. Medivir focuses its research focus on
oncology and particularly on innovative pharmaceuticals that meet substantial unmet medical needs. The pharmaceutical development work is conducted both in-house and through partnerships, usually with global pharmaceutical companies.
Medivir has a leading expertise in the design of
protease inhibitors and in the science of
nucleotides and
nucleosides.
Medivir is listed on the
Nasdaq Stockholm Mid Cap List.
In February 2020, Medivir announced that the company has signed a licensing agreement for Xerclear with Chinese company Shijiazhuang Yuanmai Biotechnology Co Ltd (SYB). The agreement gives SYB the right to register, manufacture and market the product in China.
Oncology
In 2016 Medivir announced that it would focus its research on cancers of
high unmet medical need, where existing therapies are not very successful and there is a great opportunity to provide real benefit to patients who have few treatment options. Some cancer types of particular interest to Medivir include
hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer in adults and is currently the most common cause of death in people with cirrhosis. HCC is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
It occurs in t ...
(HCC),
glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
, which are all highly aggressive diseases with poor treatment options and very low overall survival rates on the best current treatments today. HCC is a liver cancer derived from
hepatocyte cells. HCC is one of the most common cancers worldwide and late stage HCC has a mean overall survival of only 9–11 months on the best available treatment today. Medivir motivated the transition from its origin in
retroviral drug
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multi ...
s to oncology by it being a logical extension of their expertise in liver disease from earlier work on
hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...
to this area.
Notable ongoing projects
*Remetinostat,
HDAC inhibitor
Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC inhibitors, HDACi, HDIs) are chemical compounds that inhibit histone deacetylases.
HDIs have a long history of use in psychiatry and neurology as mood stabilizers and anti-epileptics. More recently they are be ...
for
Cutaneous T cell lymphoma.
*Birinapant,
SMAC mimetic for
solid tumours
A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...
.
*Miv-711
Cathepsin K inhibitor for
osteoarthritis.
See also
*
Fast track (FDA)
Fast track is a designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an investigational drug for expedited review to facilitate development of drugs that treat a serious or life-threatening condition and fill an unmet medical ne ...
*
MALT1
References
{{company-stub
Pharmaceutical companies of Sweden
Companies based in Stockholm County
Biotechnology companies established in 1988
Orphan drug companies
Life sciences industry
Drug discovery companies