Hepatitis C

BOSTON, Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVIR) (“Atea”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics for serious viral diseases, today announced three upcoming poster presentations supporting the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir as a potential treatment for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). The combination of bemnifosbuvir, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor, and ruzasvir, an NS5A inhibitor, is in Phase 2 development for HCV. These data will be presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases’ (AASLD) The Liver Meeting 2024, being held from November 15-19, 2024 in San Diego, CA. “We look forward to presenting these important data, which support the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir and its potential best-in-class profile for the treatment of HCV,” said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atea Pharmaceuticals. “The unrelenting high incidence rate of HCV infections underscores the need for new therapies that can address the unmet needs of today’s HCV patients, particularly those with substance abuse disorders and comorbidities. We look forward to reporting results from our Phase 2 study later this year and to advancing this program into Phase 3 development.” Details for the AASLD’s The Liver Meeting presentations are as follows: Poster Number: 1467Date and Time: Friday, November 15, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. PTLocation: San Diego Convention CenterTitle: Multiscale Modeling of Lead-in Results from a Phase 2 Study of an 8-Week Combination Regimen of Bemnifosbuvir and Ruzasvir in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus InfectionPresenter: Ruy M. Ribeiro, PhD Poster Number: 1466Date and Time: Friday, November 15, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. PTLocation: San Diego Convention CenterTitle: Bemnifosbuvir Does Not Alter Cardiac Repolarization in Healthy Participants: Results from a Thorough QT StudyPresenter: Xiao-Jian Zhou, PhD Poster Number: 1501Date and Time: Friday, November 15, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. PTLocation: San Diego Convention CenterTitle: Bemnifosbuvir Poses High Barrier for Resistance in both Preclinical and Phase 1b Monotherapy StudiesPresenter: Qi Huang, PhD About Bemnifosbuvir and Ruzasvir for Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Bemnifosbuvir has been shown in in vitro studies to be approximately 10-fold more active than sofosbuvir (SOF), against a panel of laboratory strains and clinical isolates of HCV GT 1–5. In vitro studies have also demonstrated bemnifosbuvir remained fully active against SOF resistance-associated substitutions (S282T), with up to 58-fold more potency than SOF. The pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of bemnifosbuvir supports once-daily dosing for the treatment of HCV. Bemnifosbuvir has been shown to have a low risk for drug-drug interactions. Bemnifosbuvir has been administered to over 2,200 subjects and has been well-tolerated at doses up to 550 mg for durations up to 12 weeks in healthy subjects and patients. Ruzasvir has demonstrated highly potent and pan-genotypic antiviral activity in preclinical (picomolar range) and clinical studies. Ruzasvir has been administered to over 1,500 HCV-infected patients at daily doses of up to 180 mg for 12 weeks and has demonstrated a favorable safety profile. The PK profile of ruzasvir supports once-daily dosing. About Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a blood-borne, positive-sense, single-stranded (ss)RNA virus that primarily infects liver cells. HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver transplants, spreading via blood transfusion, hemodialysis and needle sticks. An estimated 50 million people globally live with chronic HCV infection, with approximately 1 million new infections and 242,000 deaths occurring each year. Most HCV-related deaths are due to liver scarring (cirrhosis) and liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). Injection drug use accounts for around 30% of new HCV cases globally and approximately 60% in the U.S., where between 2-4 million people are estimated to have HCV. Annually, HCV diagnoses in the U.S. outpace treatment rates, as less than a third of those diagnosed with HCV receive timely treatment. About Atea Pharmaceuticals Atea is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing oral antiviral therapies to address the unmet medical needs of patients with serious viral infections. Leveraging Atea’s deep understanding of antiviral drug development, nucleos(t)ide chemistry, biology, biochemistry and virology, Atea has built a proprietary nucleos(t)ide prodrug platform to develop novel product candidates to treat single stranded ribonucleic acid, or ssRNA, viruses, which are a prevalent cause of serious viral diseases. Atea plans to continue to build its pipeline of antiviral product candidates by augmenting its nucleos(t)ide platform with other classes of antivirals that may be used in combination with its nucleos(t)ide product candidates. Our lead program and current focus is on the development of the combination of bemnifosbuvir, a nucleotide analog polymerase inhibitor, and ruzasvir, an NS5A inhibitor, to treat HCV. For more information, please visit www.ateapharma.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to the anticipated date and time of the presentations at The Liver Meeting, the anticipated timing for reporting of the results from Atea’s Phase 2 trial of the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir in the treatment of hepatitis C and the anticipated advancement of the program into Phase 3 clinical development. When used herein, words including “will,” “plans”, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon Atea’s current expectations and various assumptions. Atea believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain. Atea may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, dependence on the success of Atea’s most advanced product candidates, in particular the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir for the treatment of hepatitis C; as well as the other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Atea’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024 as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. While Atea may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Atea’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Contacts Jonae BarnesSVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications617-818-2985Barnes.jonae@ateapharma.com Will O’ConnorPrecision AQ212-362-1200will.oconnor@precisionaq.com

Infinitus Systems, which utilizes AI to automate manual healthcare-related phone calls, announced it scored $51.5 million in Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total raise to $102.9 million. Andreessen and Memorial Hermann Health System joined existing investors GV (Google Ventures), Coatue and Kleiner Perkins. Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, joined the company's board of directors. WHAT IT DOES The San Francisco-based company's AI-enabled platform, FastTrack, utilizes AI agents and copilots to talk to payers about claims processing and collect information on patients' prior authorizations, benefit verification and prescription follow-ups. Infinitus' AI draws from "a vast knowledge graph of payor intelligence gathered from over four million calls and counting," the company said in a statement. It knows which numbers to call, can navigate IVR systems and waits on hold for users until a live payor agent answers the phone. The company touts that its solution can use LLMs for reasoning and extraction through a coordination layer that restricts conversations to specific topics, putting concerns of AI hallucinations to rest. "The potential for AI to revolutionize the healthcare industry is immense, and Infinitus is well positioned to help customers navigate this time of change," Kupor said in a statement. "We believe in Infinitus’s vision and are confident that their innovative solutions, like FastTrack, will continue to disrupt the industry and deliver significant value to both their customers and the broader healthcare ecosystem, safely and securely driving efficiency and enabling healthcare providers to focus more on patient care." MARKET SNAPSHOT Daisy Wolf, investing partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), sat down with MobiHealthNews in August for its Investment Series to discuss a16z's enthusiasm for healthcare technology and the type of tech that will impact the sector. "The [healthcare] industry is the last industry that has call centers of people who are faxing and answering phones and scheduling appointments manually," Wolf said. "If you look at the developing world, it went straight from cash and mobile payments and leapfrogged over credit cards. We see that opportunity happening in healthcare right now, where we're going to go straight from humans to AI and leapfrogging over traditional enterprise SaaS." Over the last couple of weeks, Andreessen has announced several investments in digital health companies. One is Alchemy, a company that helps develop and scale in-house pharmacy programs focused on HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) patient populations. a16z led Alchemy's $31 million seed financing round alongside professional basketball player turned investor Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, Banc of California, Twine Ventures, Springbank and AlleyCorp. Counsel Health, a virtual healthcare practice focused on message-based care, also announced its launch with $11 million in seed funding in a round led by a16z. Floodgate Fund, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Pear VC and numerous healthcare startup founders also participated in the round.

Infinitus Systems, which utilizes AI to automate manual healthcare-related phone calls, announced it scored $51.5 million in Series C funding led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total raise to $102.9 million. Andreessen and Memorial Hermann Health System joined existing investors GV (Google Ventures), Coatue and Kleiner Perkins. Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, joined the company's board of directors. WHAT IT DOES The San Francisco-based company's AI-enabled platform, FastTrack, utilizes AI agents and copilots to talk to payers about claims processing and collect information on patients' prior authorizations, benefit verification and prescription follow-ups. Infinitus' AI draws from "a vast knowledge graph of payor intelligence gathered from over four million calls and counting," the company said in a statement. It knows which numbers to call, can navigate IVR systems and waits on hold for users until a live payor agent answers the phone. The company touts that its solution can use LLMs for reasoning and extraction through a coordination layer that restricts conversations to specific topics, putting concerns of AI hallucinations to rest. "The potential for AI to revolutionize the healthcare industry is immense, and Infinitus is well positioned to help customers navigate this time of change," Kupor said in a statement. "We believe in Infinitus’s vision and are confident that their innovative solutions, like FastTrack, will continue to disrupt the industry and deliver significant value to both their customers and the broader healthcare ecosystem, safely and securely driving efficiency and enabling healthcare providers to focus more on patient care." MARKET SNAPSHOT Daisy Wolf, investing partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), sat down with MobiHealthNews in August for its Investment Series to discuss a16z's enthusiasm for healthcare technology and the type of tech that will impact the sector. "The [healthcare] industry is the last industry that has call centers of people who are faxing and answering phones and scheduling appointments manually," Wolf said. "If you look at the developing world, it went straight from cash and mobile payments and leapfrogged over credit cards. We see that opportunity happening in healthcare right now, where we're going to go straight from humans to AI and leapfrogging over traditional enterprise SaaS." Over the last couple of weeks, Andreessen has announced several investments in digital health companies. One is Alchemy, a company that helps develop and scale in-house pharmacy programs focused on HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) patient populations. a16z led Alchemy's $31 million seed financing round alongside professional basketball player turned investor Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, Banc of California, Twine Ventures, Springbank and AlleyCorp. Counsel Health, a virtual healthcare practice focused on message-based care, also announced its launch, with $11 million in seed funding in a round led by a16z. Floodgate Fund, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Pear VC and numerous healthcare startup founders also participated in the round.