Atea Pharmaceuticals (AVIR) Evercore ISI 8th Annual HealthCONx Conference summary

Clinical development progress

• Patient recruitment target achieved for phase III C-BEYOND in North America; enrollment to be completed soon with 880 patients, results expected mid-2026.

• C-FORWARD trial recruiting well outside North America, full enrollment anticipated mid-2026, results by end of next year.

• New drug candidates AT-587 and AT-2490 from the nucleotide platform show strong in vitro antiviral activity, targeting hepatitis E in immunocompromised patients.

• NDA filing for hepatitis C program planned for Q1 2027, with phase II/III data expected in 2027.

• Phase III is a head-to-head study against standard of care, featuring an eight-week treatment regimen.

Market landscape and commercial strategy

• Hepatitis C prevalence is rising, with over 4 million cases in the U.S. and 150,000 new cases annually, but only 100,000 treated each year.

• Key opinion leaders and prescribers seek short-course, low DDI, convenient therapies to enable test-and-treat models.

• Test-and-treat is gaining traction in the U.S. and Europe, aiming to treat patients immediately upon diagnosis to prevent loss to follow-up and further transmission.

• U.S. market is highly concentrated, with 6,000 physicians responsible for 80% of DAA prescriptions.

• Launch readiness includes both bottle and blister pack forms, with 20,000-30,000 treatments available at launch and low manufacturing costs.

Pricing, partnerships, and global outlook

• Pricing strategy aims to be competitive with current market offerings across commercial and government segments.

• No significant price difference expected between U.S. and Europe; U.K. recently announced a 25% price increase.

• Seeking partnerships with companies experienced in antivirals or liver disease, especially in Europe and Japan, with expectations for robust double-digit royalties.

• Ex-U.S. market opportunity estimated at around $1 billion.