Austrian arenaviral vector technology specialist Hookipa Biotech AG (Vienna, Austria) has licenced its TheraT and Vaxwave technologies exclusively to Gilead Sciences Inc. to develop and globally commercialise vaccines against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
Gilead Sciences Inc, who had already invested US$56m into Hookipa Biotech AG (Vienna) as part of a US$500m Series C financing 6 months ago, paid an US$10m upfront and held out milestone payments of US$400m plus undiclosed future sales royalties for the vaccines. Additionally, the US company will pay all R&D costs of Hookipa to develop arenaviral vectors against HBV and HIV. Gilead Sciences will be reponsible for all clinical development of the immunotherapies.
Compared to other vaccines, Hoopkia Biotech's arenaviral vectors have the advantage to induce strong T-cell responses through infection of dendritic cells, a sort of antigen-presenting cells. While Vaxwave, a replication-deficient lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), is taken to create preventive vaccines through exchange of the viral LCMV envelope protein with viral antigens, Hookipa Biotech's TheraT platform is an replicating, attenuated arenavirus triggering stronger T-cell reponses needed for therapeutic immunotherapies.
"Gilead, a world leader in innovative therapies against major viral diseases, is the ideal partner for us to drive our pipeline development in this area for the benefit of patients in need. This partnership is strong recognition of our unique immunization technology, and helps us concentrate our own energy and resources on immuno-oncology,” commented Joern Aldag, Chief Executive Officer of Hookipa. "The collaborative HIV and HBV programs nicely complement our significant efforts in the infectious disease area with an exciting proprietary prophylactic CMV vaccine.
“We are convinced that Hookipa’s unique therapeutic vaccine technology, which has demonstrated excellent safety and immunogenicity in Phase I clinical studies, has strong potential to have synergistic effect with other Gilead cure efforts in both of these diseases areas,“s aid Bill Lee, PhD, Executive Vice President of Research, Gilead. “Our ultimate long-term goal is to eliminate the need for life-long antiviral therapy for millions of patients around the world.”
Hookipa Biotech currently has a Vaxvave-based CMV vaccine targeting GB/PP65 in Phase I testing. Its TheraT-based head and neck cancer vaccine HB-201, that targets the E6/E7 antigens of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is right before entering Phase I testing.
