J&J Joins Pharmasset for Hepatitis Study

Arlene Weintraub7/6/11

Princeton, NJ-based Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS) is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) unit Tibotec to study a drug cocktail for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a press release. The program will investigate the potential of combining PSI-7977, Pharmasset’s investigational nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, and TMC435, Tibotec’s investigational protease inhibitor. The financial details of the deal were not released, but Pharmasset’s stock—which has more than quintupled in price over the last year—gained an additional 5 percent and was trading around $123 after the announcement.