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Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Enter Collaboration to Develop Oral Drug Candidate VX-770 for CF
Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Enter Collaboration to Develop Oral Drug Candidate VX-770 for CF.
About this update from Vortex Energy Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nCAMBRIDGE, Mass. and BETHESDA, Md., March 23 /CNW/ --\nVertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) and Cystic Fibrosis\nFoundation Therapeutics, Inc. (CFFT) today announced that they have entered\ninto a new collaboration to accelerate clinical development of VX-770, a\nnovel, oral drug candidate for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). CFFT is\nthe nonprofit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis\nFoundation.\nAs part of the agreement, CFFT will pay Vertex approximately $13.3 million\nin development support through the fourth quarter of 2007. Vertex plans to\ninitiate clinical development of VX-770 in the second quarter of 2006 and to\nprogress to clinical studies in patients with CF in the second half of the\nyear. VX-770 is the first of a new class of oral agents that specifically\ntarget a key mechanism underlying CF. Vertex retains worldwide rights to\ndevelop and commercialize VX-770.\n\"VX-770 represents a novel approach to addressing the progression of\ncystic fibrosis and is the first clinical drug candidate to emerge from our\ninnovative CF research efforts,\" said Joshua Boger, Ph.D., Chairman, President\nand Chief Executive Officer of Vertex. \"We appreciate CFFT's continued\nsupport for the development of VX-770, and we look forward to initiating the\nfirst clinical study of this novel compound in patients with CF later in\n2006.\"\n\"We are excited to continue to work with Vertex on this exciting small\nmolecule drug candidate. Our support should accelerate the clinical\ndevelopment of VX-770, a compound that holds great potential for changing the\ncourse of this disease,\" said Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., President and Chief\nExecutive Officer of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and CFFT. \"The\ncollaboration announced today offers hope that together we may one day soon\nprovide a new treatment option to patients with CF. Our common goal to\naccelerate the clinical development of VX-770 represents yet another example\nof the productive collaborative history we share with Vertex in CF research.\"\n\nAbout VX-770\nVX-770 was advanced into preclinical development based on a successful\nfive-year research collaboration with CFFT that incorporated capabilities and\nproprietary research from Vertex's San Diego research site. VX-770 may act to\nrestore the function of the cystic fibr...