Chimerix, BARDA Extend Smallpox Pact

Chimerix, Inc. has extended its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for the continued development of CMX001 as a potential countermeasure against smallpox. The extension provides $5 million in funding for the next 12 months for Chimerix to conduct animal studies necessary for an approval of CMX001 for treatment of smallpox infection under the FDA Animal Efficacy Rule.
 
CMX001 is being developed as a treatment or preventive therapeutic for multiple viral diseases based on its antiviral activity against all five families of DNA viruses that cause disease in humans, including smallpox. Data from cell culture and animal models of smallpox have shown CMX001 to be highly effective against viruses in the poxvirus family. Currently there is no antiviral agent approved for the treatment of smallpox.
 
“CMX001 continues to show progress as a potential medical countermeasure against smallpox, including recent data generated in a highly relevant rabbitpox model,” said Kenneth I. Moch, president and chief executive officer of Chimerix. “We look forward to continuing our work with BARDA and the FDA to advance CMX001 as a medical countermeasure for smallpox. Simultaneously, we are also continuing the development of CMX001 for the prevention, preemption or treatment of other dsDNA viruses, including herpesviruses, polyomaviruses, and adenoviruses, that cause morbidity and mortality in immunocompromized individuals.”