A sign on a diagnostic site for Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is seen in Burgess Hill, UK, on October 7, 2020. REUTERS / Peter Nicholls / File Photo
Roche (ROG.S) is looking for another location to test its pill to fight COVID-19, after a number of cases in the UK made it difficult to find patients for its study there, the Swiss doctor said on Wednesday.
Roche and Boston partner Atea Pharmaceuticals (AVIR.O) hope their AT-527 pill will offer antiviral therapy to treat patients with COVID-19, which would be easier to administer and cheaper than other prospective treatments, such as would be antibody cocktails or Gilead Science’s (GILD.O) remdesivir.
In an interview with the Swiss press in early March, President Roche Christoph Franz offered a tempting look at the AT-527 data “in the coming weeks”, saying he dreams of being able to fight the pill pandemic by the end of the year.
But Britain’s success in reducing the number of cases with a rapid vaccination program and strict blockade meant it took longer than expected to collect data from the process there, said Bill Anderson, head of Roche’s pharmaceutical division.
“There just aren’t enough patients to sign up … with the speed we were hoping for,” Anderson said in a conference call.
“This was one of the challenges from the beginning of the pandemic: you created sites where there is a lot of COVID and then, until you’re ready to sign up, the pandemic moved elsewhere and you’re kind of running it.”
He did not identify other locations where Roche could file lawsuits.
Atea received an advance payment of $ 350 million in cash from Roche, with the potential for future payments and royalties. With Roche, Atea tests the drug in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. It also tests the drug separately in hospitals with patients with more severe cases.
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