Top COVID-19 Deals (Part II): Biopharma Vaccine Development

The recent emergence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred global healthcare and life sciences companies- as well as government agencies- to partner at unprecedented speed to develop vaccines- treatments- and tests
This article covers the last four months of deal data provided by Chris Dokomajilar of DealForma
Our team at PharmaShots is compiling a series of articles for deals among biopharma and healthcare companies

During the last four months (up to 15 Apr 2020) around 131 deals were made- the breakup of deals are as follows:

41 were done between biopharma companies-
41 between biopharma and govt. organizations/foundations/consortium
29 between biopharma and universities
11 between biopharma/medical devices/diagnostics/digital health companies
9 among universities and academic institutions

Click here to read our first part of the article with biopharma drug development deals for COVID-19

Please contact shiwani@pharmashots.com to get this full detailed report including all 131 deals.

The following 20 deals are in alphabetical order as follow:

1. Altimmune Signs a Development and Commercialization Deal with Janssen

Deal Date: Apr 8- 2020

Deal Value: $1.2M

Altimmune granted Janssen rights to develop and commercialize vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19. Altimmune is eligible for up to $1.2M in development milestones- plus royalties.

2. Bharat Biotech Research Partnership with Flugen to Develop Coroflu

Deal Date: Apr 3- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Bharat Biotech signed a research partnership with Flugen to develop a vaccine- CoroFlu based on FluGen's influenza vaccine candidate- M2SR for COVID-19. FluGen's will inject gene sequences from SARS-CoV-2 into M2SR to develop CoroFlu.

3. BioNTech Development and Distribution Deal with Pfizer for BNT162

Deal Date: Mar 17- 2020

Deal Value: $748M

BioNTech granted Pfizer worldwide (excluding China) rights to co-develop and distribute BioNTech's mRNA vaccine program- BNT162- for the prevention of COVID-19 infection. On Apr. 9- 2020- the partners disclosed the financial terms where BioNTech will receive $185M- including $72M in cash and $113M in equity and is eligible for up to $563M in milestones. Additionally- both companies will share development costs equally. Initially- Pfizer will be responsible for 100 percent of the development costs and BioNTech will repay Pfizer its 50 percent share of these costs during the commercialization of the vaccine.

4. BioNTech Development and Commercialization Deal with Fosun Pharma

Deal Date: Mar 16- 2020

Deal Value: $135M

BioNTech granted Fosun Pharma rights to develop and commercialize BioNTech's mRNA vaccine candidate- BNT162- by leveraging Fosun Pharma's clinical development- regulatory- and commercial capabilities for the prevention of COVID-19 infections in China. BioNTech is eligible to receive up to $135M- including an undisclosed upfront- a purchase of 1-580-777 ordinary shares of BioNTech for $50M- and undisclosed milestones. Additionally- both companies will share profits from sales in China.

5. Dynavax Research Partnership with Clover to Develop a Vaccine

Deal Date: Mar 24- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Dynavax signed a research partnership with Clover to develop a protein-based vaccine with CpG 1018 adjuvant by using patented Trimer-Tag technology for COVID-19.

6. Emergent BioSolutions Contract Service Deal with Vaxart

Deal Date: Mar 18- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Emergent BioSolutions signed a contract service deal with Vaxart to provide services to develop and manufacture Vaxart's experimental oral vaccine based on VAAST platform for coronavirus.

7. Generex Development and Commercialization Deal with Beijing Zhonghua and Sinotek-Advocates for COVID-19

Deal Date: Mar 2- 2020

Deal Value: $6M

Generex granted Beijing Zhonghua and Sinotek-Advocates exclusive rights to develop and commercialize a vaccine using Generex's Ii-Key peptide vaccine platform for coronavirus in China. Generex will receive $1M up front and is eligible for up to $5M in development and regulatory milestones- plus undisclosed royalties.

8. Geovax Research Partnership with Bravovax to Co-Develop a Coronavirus Vaccine

Deal Date: Jan 27- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

GeoVax signed a research partnership with BravoVax to co-develop a coronavirus vaccine by using the MVA-VLP vaccine platform for coronavirus.

9. Ginkgo Contract Service Deal with Moderna

Deal Date: Apr 15- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Ginkgo signed a contract service deal with Moderna to provide bioengineering know-how- platform infrastructure- and expertise to improve the efficacy of raw materials for the manufacturing of mRNA vaccine- mRNA-1273- for coronavirus.

10. GSK Research Partnership with Clover to Evaluate A Protein-Based Vaccine For COVID-19 (COVID-19 S-Trimer)

Deal Date: Apr 24- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

GSK signed a research partnership with Clover to evaluate a protein-based vaccine- COVID-19 S-Trimer- using GSK's pandemic adjuvant system- a Trimer-Tag technology- for coronavirus.

11. GSK Research Partnership with Xiamen Innovax To Develop COVID-19 XWG-03

Deal Date: Apr 5- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

GSK signed a research partnership with Xiamen Innovax to develop a recombinant protein-based vaccine- COVID-19 XWG-03- using GSK's adjuvant system for the prevention of COVID-19.

12. Hoth Therapeutics and Voltron Therapeutics Research Partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital to Develop a Vaccine

Deal Date: Apr 2- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Hoth Therapeutics and Voltron Therapeutics signed a research partnership with Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC) at the Massachusetts General Hospital to co-develop a vaccine using VIC's Self-Assembling Vaccine (SAV) platform for coronavirus.

13. Immunoprecise Research Partnership with Evqlv To Develop a Vaccine And Antibody for SARS-CoV-2 virus

Deal Date: Mar 2- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

ImmunoPrecise signed a research partnership with EVQLV to develop a vaccine and antibodies using EVQLV's in silico antibody design and discovery platform and IPA's discovery technologies for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

14. Novavax Development and Commercialization Deal with Emergent Biosolutions For Covid-19

Deal Date: Mar 10- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Novavax granted Emergent BioSolutions exclusive rights to its recombinant protein nanoparticle technology and Matrix-M adjuvant to develop vaccine candidate for coronavirus.

15. Sanofi Research Partnership with GSK to Develop Vaccines

Deal Date: Apr 14- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Sanofi signed a research partnership with GSK to develop vaccines using Sanofi's S-protein based antigen with GSK's adjuvant technology for coronavirus.

16. Sanofi Research Partnership with Translate Bio to Develop an mRNA Vaccine

Deal Date: Mar 27- 2020

Deal Value: undisclosed

Sanofi signed a research partnership with Translate Bio to develop the mRNA vaccine for SARS-CoV-2.

17. Sartorius Contract Service Deal with Cansino Biologics and Institute Of Bioengineering

Deal Date: Mar 25- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Sartorius signed a contract service deal with CanSino Biologics and Institute of Bioengineering to access its BIOSTAT STR single-use bioreactor system to develop a vaccine for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in China

18. Sorrento Research Partnership with Smartpharm to Develop Gene-Encoded Antibody Vaccine

Deal Date: Mar 23- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Sorrento signed a research partnership with SmartPharm to develop gene-encoded antibody vaccine for COVID-19 by using monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus discovered or generated by Sorrento which will be encoded into a gene for delivery using SmartPharm's non-viral nanoparticle platform. In addition- Sorrento and SmartPharm will develop gene-encoded antibodies that can be administered as prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection

19. Takis Research Partnership with Evvivax to Develop Vaccine for Coronavirus 2019-nCoV

Deal Date: Jan 27- 2020

Deal Value: Undisclosed

Takis signed a research partnership with Evvivax to develop vaccine for coronavirus 2019-nCoV by combining genetic technologies and expertise.

20. Vir Research Partnership with GSK to Develop Vir-7831 and Vir-7832

Deal Date: Apr 6- 2020

Deal Value: $250M

Vir signed a research partnership with GSK to develop VIR-7831 and VIR-7832 and to identify new anti-viral antibodies using GSK's expertise in functional genomics with Vir's CRISPR screening and machine learning approach for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally- the partners will develop new vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2 by combining GSK's vaccines technologies and VIR's expertise to identify neutralizing epitopes. Vir will receive $250M in upfront equity at $37.73 per share and a 10% premium.