A roundup of news from Bavarian Nordic & Gilead Sciences/Genesis Therapeutics. Highlights below.  

Mfg News 
* Bavarian Nordic, Gavi in Mpox Vaccine Pact 
Partnering News 
* Gilead, Genesis Therapeutics in AI Drug Development Pact  

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Mfg News 

Bavarian Nordic, Gavi in Mpox Vaccine Pact 
Bavarian Nordic, a Hellerup (near Copenhagen), Denmark-based vaccines company and Gavi, a global public–private partnership providing vaccines globally, have formed an advance purchase agreement (APA) to secure 500,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine to be supplied to countries in Africa impacted by the mpox outbreak. The doses will be for delivery in 2024. 

The vaccines will be funded by Gavi’s First Response Fund, a new financial mechanism created in June 2024 to make cash available to purchase vaccines in health emergencies. 

The vaccine received prequalification from the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier this month (September 2024). and Bavarian Nordic will be ready to supply the vaccines pending the signing of a supply agreement with UNICEF, Gavi’s alliance partner, which will be delivering these doses. 

This APA follows the delivery into the Democratic Republic of Congo of over a quarter of a million doses of Bavarian Nordic vaccines donated by other nations and Bavarian Nordic. The doses will be allocated to those most in need as per WHO’s Access and Allocation Mechanism.

Bavarian Nordic’s mpox vaccine is a modified vaccinia ankara (MVA-BN) vaccine and is approved in the US, Switzerland, Singapore, the European Union/European Economic Area, and the UK. Originally developed as a smallpox vaccine in collaboration with the US government to ensure the supply of a smallpox vaccine for the entire population, including immunocompromised individuals who are not recommended for vaccination with traditional replicating smallpox vaccines, MVA-BN has been indicated for use in the general adult population in individuals considered at risk for smallpox or mpox infection. 

Bavarian Nordic has been a long-term supplier of the vaccine to national stockpiles, and during the 2022-2023 mpox outbreak, the company supported governments and supranational organizations by expanding access to the vaccine to more than 70 countries worldwide.  

Source: Bavarian Nordic 

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Partnering News 

Gilead, Genesis Therapeutics in AI Drug Development Pact 
Gilead Sciences has entered an agreement with Genesis Therapeutics, a Burlingame, California-based company developing small-molecule drug candidates using artificial technology (AI), to discover and develop small molecule therapies across multiple targets. 

Genesis is applying generative and predictive AI technologies to help create therapeutics for challenging targets. This collaboration will deploy Genesis’ AI platform, GEMS (Genesis Exploration of Molecular Space), to assist in generating and optimizing molecules for targets selected by Gilead. The companies will collaborate on preclinical research activities, and Gilead will have exclusive rights for potential clinical development and commercialization of collaboration compounds. 

Under the agreement, Genesis will receive an upfront cash payment of $35 million across three targets, and Gilead will have an option to nominate additional targets for a predetermined per-target fee. Across programs, Genesis is eligible to receive additional preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments. Genesis is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales should Gilead successfully commercialize products from the collaboration. 

Source: Gilead Sciences