HilleVax, Kangh announce exclusive license agreement for HIL-216

HilleVax and Chengdu Kanghua Biological Products announced the entry into an exclusive license agreement for rights to Kangh’s hexavalent virus-like particle, VLP, vaccine candidate for norovirus, referred to by HilleVax as HIL-216, outside of Greater China. HIL-216 includes VLPs for six of the most common norovirus genotypes, including GI.1, GII.2, GII.3, GII.4, GII.6, and GII.17. The Investigational New Drug application for HIL-216 was cleared by the U.S. FDA in September 2023. As part of the exclusive license agreement, Kangh will supply HIL-216 for use in HilleVax’s near-term clinical trials, including a Phase 1 trial that HilleVax expects to initiate in 2024. “We are delighted to partner with HilleVax, a company with world-class expertise in norovirus vaccine development and a deep commitment to making an impact on the considerable morbidity, mortality, and economic burden associated with norovirus,” said Mr. Wang Zhentao, Chairman of Kangh. “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.” HilleVax will pay Kangh an upfront payment of $15 million with the potential for additional payments of up to $255.5 million upon achieving certain development and sales milestones. Kangh is also eligible to receive a single-digit tiered royalty on net sales outside of Greater China.