Johnson & Johnson’s Tibotec unit announced Tuesday that it entered into a licensing agreement with Gilead Science to develop and commercialise a once-daily antiretroviral drug that combines Tibotec’s Prezista (darunavir) with Gilead’s experimental pharmacoenhancing treatment cobicistat.

The agreement to develop the fixed-dose combination HIV therapy is contingent upon the signing of a second deal that would see the companies also developing and commercialising a single-drug antiretroviral regimen that would combine Prezista with Gilead’s HIV drug Emtriva (emtricitabine), as well as an experimental compound similar to Viread (tenofovir) dubbed GS 7340, and cobicistat.


Under the terms of the deal, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, Tibotec will be responsible for the formulation, manufacturing, registration, distribution and commercialisation of the Prezista/cobicistat combination worldwide.


Gilead will retain sole rights for the manufacture, development and commercialisation of cobicistat as a stand-alone product and for use in combination with other agents.