Approximately 30% of US citizens infected with HIV are unaware they are HIV positive. While treated patients have longer survival, the failure rate for current frontline therapies is 10% and ultimately the virus’s ability to mutate continues to demand new drugs. Consequently, the international drug market is expected to continue to show sustained growth despite advances in controlling the virus for those patients with access to treatment (Cowen & Co.). Our current preclinical efforts have shown our leads to be broadly neutralizing of all strains of HIV and additive in efficacy with all commercial highly active anti-HIV therapeutics. We have developed the chemical path with CROs
for producing pure compounds and are developing oral formulations that will enable sustained blood levels for once-a-day dosing. Each first-in-class HIV drug has achieved blockbuster annual sales (Cowen & Co.). In recent years the Pharma pipeline for new classes of HIV therapeutics has dried up largely due to reduction in R&D expenditure. PimStrategus Professional Valuation Services research suggested that while OyaGen’s lead compound has great potential in HIV therapeutics and will be effective against new strains of HIV that may be resistant to current treatments, it has high potential for a block-buster status in the areas of HIV prevention (PrEP) and HIV cure. In that regard, OyaGen has initiated in vitro studies in reservoir cells assessing the potency to neutralize viremia associated with reservoir cell reactivation as proof-of-concept that OyaGen’s lead compound could be part of a functional cure strategy.