HilleVax has reached an exclusive licensing agreement with Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products (Kangh) for the rights to Kangh’s hexavalent virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine candidate for norovirus outside of greater China, according to a press release from Ropes & Gray. Ropes & Grey represented HilleVax in the deal.

HilleVax is a U.S.-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing and commercializing novel vaccines, and Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products is a China-based biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research, development, production and sale of bioproducts.

As part of the agreement, Kangh will supply the VLP vaccine candidate for use in HilleVax’s near-term clinical trials, including a Phase 1 trial expected to start in 2024.

HilleVax will pay Kangh an initial fee of US$15 million, with the potential for additional payments of up to US$255.5 million if certain developmental and sales milestones are met. Kangh can also receive a single-digit tiered royalty on net sales outside of greater China. The agreement was announced in a press release on January 8, 2024.

“We are extremely pleased to enter this collaboration with Kangh as we seek to build out a long-term norovirus vaccine leadership position,” said Rob Hershberg, CEO and chairman of the board at Hillevax.

“This agreement represents a significant milestone for Kangh in our aim to bring our novel pipeline of vaccine products to global markets and is representative of our significant vaccine discovery, development and manufacturing capabilities,” said Wang Zhentao, chairman of Kangh.

San Francisco-based IP transactions partner Geoffrey Lin and New York-based associate Dan Freshman led the Ropes & Grey team.

- Darren Barton