Biotech Mailbag: Myriad Pharma

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Welcome back to the Biotech Stock Mailbag.

Bob M. writes, "Any comment on the recent results of Myriad Pharmaceuticals'(MYRX Quote) beviramat phase II study? Seems like they made a good deal when they bought this drug. Earlier studies showed it worked, just a question of whether they could get it into a tablet and it seems like they did it."

Beviramat is an experimental HIV drug that Myriad purchased from Panacos Pharmaceuticals (now shuttered) for $7 million. At a fire sale price like that, it's hard to call beviramat anything but a good deal for Myriad, despite the drug's long and tortured clinical development path.

As Bob alluded in his email, one of beviramat's problems was that it seemed to work OK as a liquid, but more convenient and conventional tablet forms of the drug weren't successful. Data presented earlier this month suggest that Myriad has figured out a way to make a beviramat tablet that can deliver effective levels of the drug into the bloodstream of HIV patients.

Beviramat's other big issue is that the drug does not work for all HIV patients. To get around that, Myriad is developing a companion test to screen patients to determine whether they will benefit from the drug. This, of course, complicates the drug's development and reduces the commercial potential compared to HIV drugs that can treat all patients.

It's still too early to say whether beviramat has a place in the medicine cabinet of HIV patients. I think Myriad has more dosing work to do, and of course, the drug still needs to be tested in combinations with existing HIV drugs in large studies.