GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) said it will take effective control of a collaboration to create new mRNA vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 under a €1.45 billion deal.
Under a new agreement with Germany's CureVac, the UK drugs giant will be ceded the rights to develop, manufacture, and sell these vaccines generated by the partnership.
In return, CureVac will receive an upfront payment of €400 million, with potential additional payments of up to €1.05 billion based on development, regulatory, and sales milestones, along with tiered royalties.
Since 2020, GSK and CureVac have worked together on mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases.
The collaboration has produced promising vaccine candidates for seasonal flu and COVID-19, which are in phase II trials, and for avian flu, which is in phase I trials.
These vaccines use CureVac's advanced mRNA technology.
Under the new agreement, GSK will handle all aspects of vaccine development and production. CureVac will retain rights to other preclinically validated targets and can develop mRNA vaccines for other diseases independently.
This agreement replaces all previous financial terms between the two companies.
CureVac’s ongoing patent litigation against Pfizer/BioNTech remains unaffected by this new agreement.
"We are excited about our flu/COVID-19 programmes and the opportunity to develop best-in-class mRNA vaccines to change the standard of care," said Tony Wood, GSK's chief scientific officer.
"With this new agreement, we will apply GSK's capabilities, partnerships and intellectual property to CureVac's technology, to deliver these promising vaccines at pace."