GlobeImmune partners with Gilead

LOUISVILLE – Vaccine research company GlobeImmune Inc. will partner with biopharmaceutical giant Gilead to develop a hepatitis B vaccine.

Foster City, California-based Gilead (Nasdaq: GILD) will fund Louisville-ased GlobeImmune’s current hepatitis B vaccine research through Phase 1A clinical trials, both companies said in a press statement late Monday. In addition, Gilead will pay GlobeImmune an upfront amount related to the partnership.

Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

In the future, Gilead can take over clinical development of the hepatitis B vaccine research following Phase 1A. GlobeImmune also could receive additional payments and royalties on future potential net sales, the companies said.

Years of rigorous clinical tests are the key to getting drugs and vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale.

“This collaboration is a significant milestone in GlobeImmune’s efforts to advance therapies for major unmet medical needs,´ said David Apelian, GlobeImmune’s senior vice president of research and development and chief medical officer.

GlobeImmune’s Tarmogen products are therapeutic vaccines being developed to treat cancer and infectious diseases. Tarmogens stimulate the body’s natural production of T cells, which are capable of locating and eliminating cancer cells and virally-infected cells, the company said.

GlobeImmune has raised more than $160 million to date to support its research programs. Gilead has operations in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

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