Idenix Pharmaceuticals Reports First Quarter Financi...( CAMBRIDGE Mass. April 30 /- Idenix Ph...)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDIX), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, today reported unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. At March 31, 2009, Idenix's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaled $64.5 million.

Business Highlights

• In the first quarter of 2009, the company announced that it had licensed its NNRTI program for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, including IDX899, to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and received a $34 million payment, $17 million of which was a cash payment and the other $17 million representing the purchase of shares of Idenix common stock by GSK. Idenix may also be eligible to receive up to $416 million in development, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as double-digit tiered royalties based on worldwide product sales.
• In April 2009, data were presented from each of Idenix's hepatitis C programs at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Copenhagen, Denmark (see press release dated April 23, 2009 for further details). The company continues to advance its three HCV discovery and development programs, with a nucleoside/tide polymerase inhibitor being evaluated in a proof-of-concept clinical study and non-nucleoside polymerase and protease inhibitors undergoing late-stage preclinical testing.

"Our primary objective at Idenix is to discover and develop the leading HCV antiviral platform," said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, Ph.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Idenix. "With the licensing of IDX899 to GSK in February of this year and the continued advancement of drug candidates from three major classes of
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