November 29, 2010 (FinancialWire) (Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=ftrdnwswnd for all of today’s featured news.) — Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX), a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral diseases, said it will receive a payment of $20 million from ViiV Healthcare for the achievement of a clinical milestone relating to GSK2248761 (known as '761).

ViiV Healthcare is developing '761, a drug candidate for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. In February 2009, Idenix licensed to GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) on a worldwide basis a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug candidate, '761, for the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

The company said it has received around $60 million in total collaboration-related payments as of November 2010. Under this agreement, Idenix said it could also potentially receive up to $390 million in additional milestone payments as well as double-digit tiered royalties on worldwide product sales.

In November 2009, GSK and Pfizer created ViiV Healthcare, an independent company focused solely on research, development and commercialization of HIV medicines, and '761 became part of the ViiV Healthcare pipeline.

Massachusetts-based Idenix's current focus is on the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

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