GSK and Gilead Sciences sign licensing agreement

GlaxoSmithKline and Gilead Sciences have signed a licensing agreement to commercialize Viread for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, or HBV, infection in adults in five countries in Asia.

The companies' combined commercialization activities will expand access to tenofovir for the treatment of HBV, once approved, to patients in Asia.

Under the licensing agreement, Gilead will retain exclusive rights for commercialization of Viread for HBV in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. In China, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will have exclusive commercialization rights and registration responsibilities for tenofovir for HBV. Each company will pay royalties to the other on sales of Viread for HBV in their respective Asian territories. The companies are working to expand this agreement to include Japan and other countries.

The Viread agreement modifies the terms of the April 2002 licensing agreement between Gilead and GSK under which GSK received exclusive rights to Hepsera, Gilead's first HBV treatment, in various territories including China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as well as the right to commercialize tenofovir for the treatment of HBV under certain circumstances.

Abbas Hussain, president of emerging markets at GSK, said: "The agreement with Gilead to develop and launch Viread in China builds on GSK's strong heritage in HBV and provides an important addition to GSK's current portfolio in one of our key markets. Together with Gilead, we are committed to increasing access to this medicine for more patients in Asia, bringing new ways to address the burden of chronic HBV where it is most needed."

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