Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), a Germany-based company known for its successful development of two HIV drugs and the ongoing study of two hepatitis C medications, is discontinuing its virology research program, according to PharmaTimes World News.  BI officially entered the HIV treatment arena with the approval of Viramune, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, in 1996. This was followed by the approval of Aptivus, a protease inhibitor, in 2005. The company’s virology group has also been developing two drugs for hepatitis C virus infection, the protease inhibitor BI 201335 currently in Phase III studies and the polymerase inhibitor BI 207127 now in Phase II trials, and is committed to their advancement. “[W]e are further developing them full speed with high priority,” said BI spokesperson Julia Meyer-Kleinmann.

To read the PharmaTimes article, click here.