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Danish biotech company partners with Janssen to develop HPV vaccine

Xinhua, December 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic on Friday announced it has signed a collaboration agreement with Belgium-based pharmaceutical company Janssen on the development of a therapeutic HPV vaccine.

Under the agreement, Janssen will acquire exclusive rights to use Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN technology together with Janssen' s own AdVac technology in a prime-boost vaccine regimen directed against cancers induced by HPV.

HPV is known to be the primary cause of cervical cancer and certain types of head and neck cancer, as well as a number of more rare cancers.

Bavarian Nordic will receive an upfront payment of 9 million U.S. dollars and potential future payments upon reaching development and commercial milestones, together totaling up to 171 million dollars, it said in a statement.

Although vaccines have become available to protect against various high-risk HPV subtypes that can cause cancer, there is an unmet need for a therapeutic approach for chronic infections that may lead to precancerous cell changes.

"We are excited to expand our collaboration with Janssen on the evaluation of MVA-BN as a therapeutic approach to HPV, which represents a significant opportunity to transform the treatment paradigm in cervical and other cancers induced by the virus," said Bavarian Nordic CEO Paul Chaplin.

As the two companies have already entered into a partnership to develop an Ebola vaccine, Bavarian Nordic sees great potential for future cooperation.

"Through the ongoing collaboration on Ebola, we have already made significant advances with our MVA-BN technology, demonstrating its potential to enhance and prolong immune responses induced by Janssen's AdVac technology, and we look forward to expanding the partnership to explore the same concept for HPV," Chaplin said.

Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, based on the Company's live virus vaccine platform.

Joined the American corporation Johnson & Johnson in 1961, Janssen provides medicines for an array of health concerns in several therapeutic areas such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental health, pain management and women's health. Endit