Incyte Corporation Begins Phase I Study Of New HIV Drug In Healthy Volunteers

WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2006--Incyte Corporation (Nasdaq:INCY - News) today announced that it has initiated a Phase I clinical trial of INCB9471, a new orally available CCR5 antagonist that is being developed as a treatment for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), the retrovirus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome. CCR5 antagonists are a new class of antiretroviral compounds that have been shown to block entry of the HIV virus into the cell, unlike nearly all of the existing HIV drugs that prevent viral replication within the cell. Because these compounds act through a different mechanism, they are active against strains of the virus that are resistant to currently used HIV treatments.