Bavarian Nordic has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals under which, Janssen will acquire exclusive rights to Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN technology for use in a prime-boost vaccine regimen to target all cancers induced by human papillomavirus (HPV).
 
Bavarian Nordic will receive $9 million upfront, as well as potential development and commercial milestones, together totaling as much as $171 million. Janssen will fund all development costs, and Bavarian Nordic will undertake all manufacturing for MVA-BN. Bavarian Nordic is also entitled to receive royalties on future product sales.
 
The agreement builds on the existing collaboration entered in October 2014 under which Janssen would evaluate MVA-BN for certain infectious disease targets. Janssen also retains an exclusive option to license MVA-BN for two additional undisclosed infectious disease targets.
 
Janssen will study MVA-BN in a prime-boost vaccine regimen with its AdVac technology, similar to that used in the Ebola vaccine regimen which is currently in Phase III trials. The prime-boost approach has shown to induce a strong and longer-lasting immune response, demonstrated by both increased antibodies and T cell responses. The goal is to develop a vaccine to treat chronic HPV infections as well as intercept precancerous stages of cancer.
 
“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 Paul Chaplin, Ph.D. and chief executive officer of Bavarian Nordic. “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.”