Boehringer Ingelheim Drops Hepatitis C Development

German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim said Friday it has re-evaluated its development strategy for hepatitis C treatments (HCV), and has decided not to move forward in this therapeutic area.

The HCV treatment environment has significantly and rapidly evolved since the submission of BI’s faldaprevir marketing applications to regulatory bodies around the world, the company said. There are now several new treatment options available for patients, and additional all-oral options are expected to be approved in 2014, the company noted.

There no longer is an unmet medical need for the faldaprevir interferon-based regimen that was the subject of the application, BI added. As such, it will withdraw all pending marketing applications for faldaprevir worldwide and is discontinuing further development.

The company said it will continue focusing on numerous promising development projects in immunology, cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic diseases, diseases of the central nervous system and oncology. — Neal Learner

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