Takeda partners with Frazier to launch HilleVax

Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO:  4502) and Frazier Healthcare Partners yesterday announced a collaboration to launch HilleVax, a biopharmaceutical company to develop and commercialize Takeda’s norovirus vaccine candidate.

Takeda, whose shares closed up 1.5% at 3,756 yen on the news, has granted a license to HilleVax for the exclusive development and commercialization rights to its norovirus vaccine candidate, HIL-214 (formerly TAK-214), worldwide outside of Japan, in exchange for upfront consideration, as well as future cash milestones and royalties on net sales. Takeda will retain commercialization rights in Japan and HilleVax will integrate certain Japan development activities into its global development. Takeda remains committed to vaccines, and this collaboration allows Takeda to focus its global resources on dengue, COVID-19, pandemic influenza and Zika, in addition to the vaccines it currently distributes in Japan.

HIL-214, which is a virus-like particle (VLP) based vaccine candidate, completed a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIb field efficacy study in 4,712 adult subjects in which HIL-214 was well-tolerated and demonstrated clinical proof of concept in preventing moderate-to-severe cases of acute gastroenteritis from norovirus infection.1 To date, the candidate has been studied in nine human clinical trials with safety data from over 4,500 subjects and immunogenicity data from over 2,000 subjects.