Six years after first allying with Aelix Therapeutics to test the Spanish biotech’s HTI vaccine for HIV, Gilead Sciences has decided to buy the vaccine program.
The companies wouldn’t disclose to Fierce Biotech how much money has changed hands, but we do know that the relationship between the two biotechs stretches back to 2018. That was when Barcelona-based Aelix announced it would investigate its vaccine with Gilead’s antiviral vesatolimod in HIV-infected individuals.
Last year, Gilead was touting the results of a phase 2 trial of the vaccine and the immune modulator as inducing “a strong T cell response,” while Aelix described the top-line results as “promising.”
Aelix’s chairman echoed that sentiment again in this morning’s release, saying the company’s HTI vaccines have “shown promising results in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials, and we are eager to see this immunogen move forward through this acquisition and potentially become an important aspect of the search for an HIV cure.”
The HTI immunogen was discovered by Aelix's chief scientific officer and co-founder Christian Brander, Ph.D., following the observation that “T-cell responses to certain HIV regions are enriched in individuals with enhanced control of their HIV-infection,” according to the company’s website.
“We are excited that our HTI T-cell immunogen is now in the hands of an innovative pharmaceutical company like Gilead Sciences, which has the tools and capabilities to further evaluate this asset as part of a potential approach to an HIV cure strategy,” Brander said in the Nov. 25 release.
Gilead has an array of HIV drugs on the market, which brought in a combined $5.1 billion in sales in the third quarter. This was led by the antiretroviral pill Biktarvy and the antiviral Descovy. While Gilead has yet to bring a vaccine to market, that could be about to change after a phase 3 trial this year showed that the company’s recently approved HIV drug lenacapavir could offer effective pre-exposure prophylaxis.