Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the presentation of new Phase 1, in vitro and in vivo data that demonstrate key profile attributes of Atea's lead drug candidate, bemnifosbuvir, for the treatment of COVID-19 and hepatitis C (HCV). Additionally, new data for AT-752 for dengue and a nucleotide analogue are being presented. These results are being presented at the 36(th) International Conference on Antiviral Research (ICAR 2023) taking place March 13-17, 2023 in Lyon, France.

Key highlights of the presentations include results from a Phase 1 human absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) study for bemnifosbuvir demonstrating a favorable ADME profile supportive of the dosing regimen used in SUNRISE-3, a global, multicenter Phase 3 registrational trial for the treatment of COVID-19. In vitro metabolism and transporter interaction studies showed bemnifosbuvir has a low risk for interactions with medicines commonly prescribed to patients at risk for COVID-19 progression and for those with HCV infection. In vitro studies also demonstrated advantages of bemnifosbuvir's mechanism of action, which targets conserved regions of the viruses that cause COVID-19 and HCV infection.

These advantages include a higher barrier to resistance and maintenance of antiviral activity in the presence of COVID-19 variants. Additionally, the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir for the treatment of HCV demonstrated potent in vitro synergistic antiviral activity and in vivo preclinical safety without adverse interactions. Results from an in vitro resistance study conducted with the surrogate virus HCoV-229E in Huh7 cells suggest that bemnifosbuvir may have a high barrier to drug resistance during treatment of COVID-19 and other coronavirus infections.