Bristol-Myers ends work on Hepatitis C drug

On Thursday, Bristol-Myers Squibb said it was halting development of a drug known as BMS-986094 and designed to treat Hepatitis C, after nine patients in a mid-stage clinical trial were hospitalized, one of whom later died from heart failure. Though the connection between the drug trial and heart failure is not yet confirmed, the company issued a statement last night saying development would stop immediately. The turn of events is a huge setback for the company, who paid $2.5 billion in January to acquire Inhibitex, who was developing the drug that became known as BMS-986094. Competing pharmaceuticals companies, including Idenix Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences are also chasing a drug to treat  Hepatitis C, a viral infection that can cause liver scarring and liver cancer.