Biotechnology company Brii Biosciences has signed an asset purchase agreement for BRII-179, a hepatitis B virus (HBV) candidate, from VBI Vaccines.
Brii Biosciences has secured intellectual property (IP) and other related assets from VBI Vaccines, its subsidiaries, and creditors K2 VBI Equity Trust and K2 HealthVentures.
As per the agreement, announced in February last year, the biotechnology company will fully acquire BRII-179’s patents, know-how, and relevant materials for full control on future manufacturing and supply.
The asset purchase agreement eliminates future milestones and royalty obligations to VBI, with Brii Biosciences paying $18m.
Upon closing, both companies will terminate their 14 February 2024 agreements, which were not completed due to VBI’s discontinued operations.
Brii Biosciences’ remaining payment obligation under the terminated agreements other than the outstanding principal amount of $2.5m in the form of a promissory note will be cancelled.
Brii Biosciences chairman and CEO Zhi Hong said: “This transaction ensures us with uninterrupted clinical supply of BRII-179 and complete ownership of its IP.
“It vests more value of BRII-179 in Brii’s shareholders as we advance to late-stage development.”
Brii Biosciences has also launched several combination studies with BRII-179 to improve functional cure rates for chronic HBV infection.
Ongoing research supports BRII-179’s potential to identify HBV patients more responsive to curative treatments.
Based on cumulative and emerging data, the ENRICH study, a large, prospective, and confirmatory Phase 2b trial evaluating BRII-179, elebsiran, and PEG-IFNα combination, is now fully enrolled.
BRII-179 is a novel recombinant protein-based HBV immunotherapeutic candidate that targets Pre-S1, Pre-S2, and S HBV surface antigens to enhance B-cell and T-cell immunity.
The biotechnology company licensed BRII-179 from VBI Vaccines in December 2018 and expanded its global rights in July 2023.
In November 2023, the asset received breakthrough therapy designation from China’s National Medical Products Administration’s (NMPA) Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE).
