Swedish company Vaccines AB (Eurocine Vaccines) has entered into a research and collaboration agreement with Redbiotec AG.
The agreement gives Eurocine Vaccines the exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccine candidates against Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2), based on technologies developed by Swiss biotech company Redbiotec.
The agreement covers both an mRNA and a protein-based technology, its documentation and patents within the field of HSV-2.
“I am very pleased that we have added this promising candidate to our portfolio, especially given the impressive scientific development of the therapeutic vaccine made to this point by Redbiotec,” said Hans Arwidsson, CEO of Eurocine Vaccines.
HSV-2 is a sexually-transmitted disease that affects about half a billion people worldwide, according to WHO. Implications that follow include painful genital blisters and/or ulcers, depression resulting from the negative impact on quality of life and sexual relationships, increased risk of HIV, neurological disabilities due to neonatal herpes and in rare cases, encephalitis.
Currently treated mainly by antivirals, no effective therapeutic vaccine is available on the market today.
“We are very content to have engaged Eurocine Vaccines for the leap ahead, taking our novel HSV-2 candidates from innovation towards a potential blockbuster. Eurocine Vaccines has proven to be one of the few vaccine experts who are engaged, committed and able to do just that,” said Christian Schaub, co-founder and CEO of Redbiotec.
Collaborations
Redbiotec has a successful track record in collaborating with pharma companies in the field of vaccines (e.g. Redvax, a Redbiotec spin-off, acquired by Pfizer).
Redbiotec is now working on several projects including proteins for the food industry and proteins and genetic materials for the pharma and biotech industry.
Following the agreement, the companies are planning preclinical and clinical studies, documentation, patents and business development along with active marketing.
They will also decide which technology to pursue – the mRNA or protein-based vaccine candidate.
The companies said they will also evaluate the potential of a prophylactic HSV-2 vaccine to follow the development of this therapeutic vaccine, and the potential synergies of these two.
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