R-Pharm and Beijing Health Guard deal on nonavalent HPV vaccine in Russia

Russian biotech firm R-Pharm Group and Beijing Health Guard Biotechnology have entered into a license agreement on the development and commercialization of a nonavalent human papillomavirus vaccines (HPV) vaccine in Russia.

The agreement provides for the conduct of Phase III clinical trials and registration of the nonavalent HPV vaccine in Russia, as well as localization of production of ready-to-use dosage form at R-Pharm's facility in Yaroslavl for commercial supply of the vaccine in Russia.

To date, two HPV vaccines have been registered in Russia, namely the tetravalent and the bivalent, which protect against infections with four and two HPV strains, respectively. The nonavalent HPV vaccine developed by Beijing Health Guard includes as antigens non-infectious virus-like particles of seven high-risk HPV types and two low-risk HPV types that combined are responsible for ~90% of cervical cancer cases worldwide.