Dynavax enters license agreement for Vaxart’s oral COVID-19 vaccine program Vaxart

Dynavax Technologies (DVAX) and Vaxart (VXRT) announced that they have entered into an exclusive, worldwide license and collaboration agreement for Vaxart’s investigational oral COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Vaxart’s investigational oral vaccine candidate has a novel mechanism of action and delivery method relative to commercially available COVID-19 vaccines. The oral delivery approach is believed to induce mucosal immunity at respiratory tract entry points, potentially reducing infection, transmission and severity of disease. The oral vaccine delivery format has the potential to significantly improve patient acceptance, simplify distribution without cold chain requirements, and expand the accessibility and public health impact of COVID-19 vaccination. Under the terms of the agreement, Dynavax will pay Vaxart an upfront license fee of $25M and make a $5M equity investment in Vaxart and receive an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize oral COVID-19 vaccines based on Vaxart’s delivery platform. Vaxart will retain full operational and financial responsibility for the oral COVID-19 vaccine program through the completion of the ongoing Phase 2b clinical trial and the subsequent End of Phase 2 meeting with the U.S. FDA. After receiving the data from the Phase 2b clinical trial, Dynavax has the right – but not the obligation – to elect whether to assume future clinical development of Vaxart’s oral COVID-19 vaccine program. Dynavax has also agreed to make an additional payment to Vaxart should Dynavax elect to assume responsibility for the program.