Pharmasset Inc. was a pharmaceutical company based in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States. The company develops for HIV (including racivir), hepatitis B (including clevudine, marketed as Levovir), and hepatitis C.[" Pharmasset Inc (VRUS:US)." Bloomberg.] In November 2011, Pharmasset was acquired by Gilead Sciences for $11.2 billion.
History
Pharmasset was founded in 1998 by Raymond Schinazi and Dennis Liotta, scientists at
Emory University. The company was initially incorporated in
Barbados (as Pharmasset, Ltd.) and separately in Georgia. However, the company was redomiciled as a Delaware corporation on June 8, 2004.
[ Pharmasset Inc. Form 10-K (annual report filed 12/31/07 for the period ending 09/30/07).]
Pharmasset's initial public offering took place on April 27, 2007, when it was first listed on NASDAQ.[" Pharmasset Announces Second Fiscal Quarter 2007 Financial Results " (June 11, 2007) (press release). Pharmasset Inc.] The firm's stock return in the first three Fiscal year (nine months) of 2011 was 278 percent. Among analysts, 17 rated the company's stock as "strong buy" or "buy," while two rated it a "hold." Pharmasset was the best performer in this period among all major U.S. Stock exchange among stocks trading for Penny stock on January 1, 2011.[Brian Richards. " With 9 Months Down, These Are the Best Stocks of 2011" (October 3, 2011). The Motley Fool.]
Market
The company described itself as being a
Clinical trial pharmaceutical company and stated that its primary focus is "the development of
Drug delivery for the treatment of hepatitis C
virus."
[" Corporate Overview - Pharmasset, Inc. ." - Pharmasset, Inc.] The company's secondary focus was the development of
Racivir, an investigational antiretroviral drug for the treatment of HIV. The company's research and development concentrated on nucleoside analogs.
[" About Us ." Pharmasset Inc.]
Pharmasset's PSI-7977 medication was further developed by Gilead and approved in December 2013 by the FDA as sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
Among Pharmasset's competitors were Abbott Laboratories,[Pat Wechsler, " Pharmasset Falls on Rival Abbott Hepatitis C Therapy Results" (October 21, 2011). Bloomberg.] Merck & Co., and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.[" Pharmasset expands hepatitis C trial; shares rise" (October 10, 2011). Reuters.]
Sovaldi
Pharmasset originally developed
Sofosbuvir (brand name Sovaldi).
When
Gilead Sciences acquired Pharmasset for $11.2 billion in 2012, the "smaller company had forecast a $36,000 price per treatment course of Sovaldi. Gilead's investment bankers,
Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch did the "valuation of Pharmasset during merger talks and the related pricing assumptions for Sovaldi." According to The Wall Street Journal in response to the price of Solvadi at $84,000 per treatment course, the United States Senate Finance Committee wrote a letter to CEO John C. Martin questioning how much Pharmasset had spent on research and development on Sovaldi and how much Gilead spent on its "Sovaldi-related research costs since the 2012 buyout.
External links
