Brii buys further into VBI therapy, expanding hepatitis B partnership

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Brii buys further into VBI therapy, expanding hepatitis B partnership

Dive Brief:

Brii Biosciences has acquired broader rights to an experimental immunotherapy for hepatitis B developed by VBI Vaccines, as well as to the latter company’s approved hepatitis B vaccine in a small deal announced Wednesday afternoon.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based VBI will receive from Brii $15 million upfront, $3 million of which will come as an equity investment. VBI could receive up to $422 million more as part of the agreement, which gives Brii worldwide rights to the immunotherapy and rights in the Asia Pacific region to VBI’s vaccine.

The two biotechs have been working together since 2018 in hopes of developing a hepatitis B cure. The new deal comes on the heels of VBI restructuring its business in April, when it cut costs and laid off around one-third of its workforce.

Dive Insight:

The hepatitis B virus causes liver infections that can lead to jaundice, nausea and stomach problems. While infections are a short-term illness for some, in others they can become chronic and result in more serious health impacts. The risk of a chronic infection is greater the younger a person is, although most people over the age of six recover.

A number of preventive vaccines exist for both infants and adults, but there is no curative treatment for those who already have a chronic infection.

One of those vaccines is VBI’s. Called PreHevbri or PreHevbrio, the shot is the only one approved for use in the U.S. that targets three hepatitis B antigens. Wednesday’s deal gives Brii rights to it in the Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, while VBI will retain global rights elsewhere.

VBI’s immunotherapy, dubbed VB1-2601, is currently being studied in two Phase 2 trials. Interim data from one that’s evaluating the drug alongside an RNA-based treatment were announced in February.

Other drugmakers are also exploring new hepatitis B treatments, most notably GSK, which has advanced a candidate into Phase 3 testing. Data are expected sometime in 2025. Much earlier is startup Bluejay Therapeutics, which recently raised $41 million for its research.

On the other side of the ledger, Johnson & Johnson’s recent restructuring of its infectious disease division has left the future of an experimental Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals treatment up in the air.