Dallas, Texas 02/04/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – The $297 million market capped development stage bio tech firm Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) reported in Mid January, that it has positive updates from its evaluatory tests of patented compounds which it has developed as potential cures for hepatitis C (HCV). On the back of strong and positive results emanating from the test data, the New Haven based drug maker has also released a reworked milestone for developing the target drug in 2014
Spelling out the long term road map on the back of these favourable results from the exploratory tests, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Milind Deshpande has been quoted to have explained that, “We believe that we have the broad portfolio of HCV compounds necessary to succeed in achieving our primary goal of developing commercially competitive short duration therapies for the treatment of HCV that are once-daily and ribavirin-free. With our 2013 year-end cash balance projected to exceed $150 million, we have sufficient capital to fund our operations into 2016 and achieve a number of milestones throughout 2014 with our HCV assets.”
The key target drugs that Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) is hoping to take into commercialization are its ACH-3422 which is a “uridine nucleotide inhibitor of NS5B polymerase” and ACH-3102 which is a “pan-genotypic, second-generation NS5A inhibitor” currently going through its Phase 2 clinical testing at this stage.
ACH-3422 2014 Milestones
Backed by strong test results, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) is working on pushing ahead with the clinical trials of ACH-3422. Phase 1 “first-in-human trial ex-US” are expected to commence in the April to June 2014 time frame and hopes to progress into Phase 1 “proof-of-concept” by the middle of 2014. The initial results from these phase 1 trials are to be expected in September 2014 time frame.
ACH-3102 Milestones
Phase 2 trials are to commenced in the second quarter of 2014 with test results to be announced by end of the year.