Arbutus returns cyclophilin inhibitor to NeuroVive

NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB (SSE:NVP; Pink:NEVPF) regained rights to NVP018 from Arbutus Biopharma Corp. (NASDAQ:ABUS) as the companies terminated a 2014 deal to develop the compound for HBV.

The exclusive, worldwide rights to NVP018 were obtained in 2014 by OnCore Biopharma Inc., which had hoped to develop the compound as part of a multimodal approach to curing HBV. OnCore, which was formed by a group of former Pharmasset Inc. executives, merged with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. in 2015 to form Arbutus (see BioCentury, Sept. 15, 2014). ...