Princeton, NJ-based Pharmasset (NASDAQ: [[ticker:VRUS]]) is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: [[ticker:JNJ]]) unit Tibotec to study a drug cocktail for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a press release. The program will investigate the potential of combining PSI-7977, Pharmasset’s investigational nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, and TMC435, Tibotec’s investigational protease inhibitor. The financial details of the deal were not released, but Pharmasset’s stock—which has more than quintupled in price over the last year—gained an additional 5 percent and was trading around $123 after the announcement.
Author: Arlene Weintraub
Arlene is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences and technology. She was previously a senior health writer based out of the New York City headquarters of BusinessWeek, where she wrote hundreds of articles that explored both the science and business of health. Her freelance pieces have been published in USA Today, US News & World Report, Technology Review, and other media outlets. Arlene has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Her book about the anti-aging industry, Selling the Fountain of Youth, was published by Basic Books in September 2010.
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