MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- 3-V Biosciences, Inc., announced today that preclinical data for its novel fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitors for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection will be presented at the 63^rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (The Liver Meeting®) being held November 9-13 in Boston, Massachusetts. 

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"New, potent therapeutics that combine with and improve on the evolving standard of care for the treatment of hepatitis C infection are needed to ensure that we can reach the broadest population of patients with appropriate, curative regimens," said George Kemble, Chief Scientific Officer of 3-V Biosciences.  "3-V's FASN inhibitors represent an entirely new class of therapy.  With a novel mechanism of action, and broad-spectrum, potent antiviral activity demonstrated across multiple preclinical studies, we believe that our FASN inhibitors will bring substantial benefits to patients as a key component in emerging multi-drug treatment regimens.  We look forward to initiating clinical studies early next year."

Novel FASN Inhibitors
3-V's FASN inhibitors for the treatment of HCV are designed to have broad-spectrum activity, a high barrier to resistance and the ability to combine with direct-acting antivirals, such as nucleotide/nucleoside inhibitors, protease inhibitors, NS5a inhibitors and other mechanisms of action currently in development.  Data characterizing the preclinical antiviral activity of 3-V's FASN inhibitors will be featured in oral and poster presentations during The Liver Meeting.  Highlights of these data include:

• Orally bioavailable representative molecules are potent and specific, with IC50s in the 5-50nM range;
• Inhibitors have demonstrated excellent exposure and low toxicity in rodents associated with prolonged in vivo suppression of FASN;
• Antiviral activity against wild-type Genotype 1a, 1b and 2a replicons; and
• Antiviral activity against mutant HCV replicons resistant to NS3, NS4b, NS5a and NS5b inhibitors.

3-V's FASN inhibitors are a chemically diverse set of potent, specific, reversible molecules with an excellent range of pharmaceutical properties.  The company has filed multiple worldwide patent applications covering these inhibitors.  3-V's HCV program is on track for an IND in the first quarter of 2013 and the company anticipates clinical proof-of-concept data by year-end 2013.

Data describing 3-V's FASN inhibitor preclinical activity will be presented by Dr. Kemble during Sunday's HCV Therapy: Preclinical and Early Clinical Development parallel session at 5:30 pm in a talk titled: "Potent Hepatitis C Antiviral Activity By Inhibiting Fatty Acid Synthase" (Abstract #88).  A poster, "TVB-2640, a Novel Anti-HCV Agent, Safely Causes Sustained Host-Target Inhibition in Vivo" (Abstract #1876), describing mechanism and activity for one of 3-V's compounds will be presented on Tuesday, November 13 during the HCV Therapy: Preclinical and Early Clinical Development poster session from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

About FASN
FASN is a cellular enzyme implicated in HCV replication and several cancers.  First-generation FASN inhibitors have shown preclinical benefits in a variety of viral infections, including HCV, as well as in models of pancreatic, prostatic, breast and colorectal tumors, but their development has been hindered by poor bioavailability and systemic tolerability.  3-V has discovered and is advancing proprietary FASN inhibitors with pharmaceutical properties that overcome the shortcomings of earlier generations of inhibitors, and have the potential to become significant new approaches to the treatment of chronic HCV and other indications.

About 3-V Biosciences
3-V Biosciences, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops antiviral therapeutics designed to have broad-spectrum activity, including efficacy against viruses resistant to other classes of antiviral drugs, and a high barrier to resistance.  The 3-V team applies an integrated approach with internal expertise in virology, biology, drug discovery and development to drive programs forward.  The company is located in Menlo Park, California.

For additional information on 3-V Biosciences, please visit www.3vbio.com.

Contact information

Stephen R. Brady
Chief Business Officer
650-561-8600

Media Inquiries

BCC Partners on behalf of 3-V Biosciences, Inc.
Karen L. Bergman
650-575-1509
kbergman@bccpartners.com

Michelle Corral
415-794-8662
mcorral@bccpartners.com

SOURCE 3-V Biosciences, Inc.