Roche And InterMune Sign Agreement To Collaborate On The Research, Development And Commercialization Of Hepatitis C Protease Inhibitors

Basel, Switzerland & Brisbane, Ca - Roche and InterMune, Inc. announced that the companies have entered into an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement to develop and commercialize products from InterMune's HCV protease inhibitor program. The agreement includes InterMune's lead candidate compound ITMN-191, expected to enter clinical trials before the end of the year. The companies will also collaborate on a research program to identify, develop and commercialize novel second-generation HCV protease inhibitors.

"This agreement with InterMune is part of our ongoing commitment to advancing therapies for hepatitis C patients," said Peter Hug, Global Head of Pharma Partnering for Roche. "We believe that protease inhibitors may become an important new component of HCV treatments and we look forward to working with InterMune in the development of ITMN-191 and other potential compounds that may emerge from our collaboration."

Dan Welch, President and Chief Executive Officer of InterMune commented: "We are very pleased to be partnering with Roche. We believe this partnership will help accelerate the development of ITMN-191 and future second-generation protease inhibitors, while allowing InterMune to share in the substantial value creation opportunity of this important program."

SOURCE: Roche and InterMune, Inc.