Formerly doing business as Novirio Pharmaceuticals, Idenix Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company organized around antivirals - drugs for the treatment of human viral and other infectious diseases. The firm's primary R&D focus is on the treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The company?'s HCV discovery program focuses on nucleoside/nucleotide polymerase inhibitors, NS5A inhibitors, protease inhibitors, and non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors. It is also developing non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors for the treatment of human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus type-1 and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); and products and drug candidates for the treatment of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV). In May 2003, the Company had been acquired by Novartis Pharma AG, an affiliate of Novartis AG and until 2012 operated as a subsiduary to that firm. In 2012 that agreement ended but the firm continued collaboration agreements with Novartis Pharma AG; with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; ViiV Healthcare Company; and GlaxoSmithKline. In June 2014, it was announced that in an effort to bolster its arsenal of potential drugs in the hotly competitive hepatitis C area, Merck would acquire Idenix shares for $3.85B in cash - an eye-poppping 3-4 times the closing price of the stock on the previous Friday.
