JAPAN – Shionogi and NEC Corporation have signed a strategic research collaboration agreement to develop a novel hepatitis B therapeutic vaccine.
The two companies will divide responsibilities based on areas of expertise such as artificial intelligence and infectious disease knowledge.
Hepatitis B is a potentially fatal liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Chronic HBV infection increases the risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Around 300 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B infection, and hepatitis B caused an estimated 820,000 deaths in 2019.
Although the widespread use of hepatitis B vaccines in infants has significantly reduced the incidence of new chronic HBV infections in children under the age of five, the number of new infections through other routes continues to rise.
Interferon (IFN) and nucleotide analog therapies are the primary treatments for hepatitis B at the moment.
However, IFN treatment has a high frequency of side effects, whereas nucleotide analog therapy has a high recurrence rate if treatment is interrupted, making it necessary to take drugs for the rest of one’s life.
As a result, there is a significant unmet medical need for safe and highly effective drugs to achieve a complete cure for hepatitis B and, in the process, transform the lives of millions of people worldwide.
Isao Teshirogi, president and CEO, Shionogi, explained: “Shionogi has been engaged in the research and development of infectious diseases for over 60 years.
“As a leading infectious disease company, we are taking on the challenge of protecting people from the threat of infectious diseases and realizing total care.”
He also stressed the increasing importance of collaboration in targeting debilitating conditions: “One company can only go so far in dealing with a global pandemic like COVID-19. We will further enhance our contribution to global health by integrating NEC’s AI technologies while leveraging our strengths.”
NEC recently collaborated with CEPI to develop AI-designed broad spectrum betacoronavirus vaccine to help tackle the challenges of COVID-19.
Under the partnership, CEPI will provide up to US$4.8 million in seed funding to NEC OncoImmunity AS (NOI), a Norwegian subsidiary of NEC that specializes in artificial intelligence-driven biotechnology, to support the initial development of broadly protective betacoronavirus vaccine candidates.
NEC will lead a research consortium led by the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI) and Oslo University Hospital through NOI to deliver a project aimed at establishing preclinical proof of concept f
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