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GSK buying license rights for anti-smoking vaccine

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) said Monday that it is licensing  a Maryland company's nicotine-addiction vaccine, now in trials, in a deal that is worth $40 million now and could go as high as $500 million.

The vaccine is NicVAX, developed by Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (NasdaqGM: NABI) of Rockville, Md. It is in Phase III trials and targets nicotine addiction and smoking relapse by smokers who have stopped.

Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will pay to Nabi an upfront non-refundable fee of $40 million at closing and will receive an option to exclusively in-license NicVAX on a worldwide basis and a license to develop follow-on next-generation nicotine vaccines using Nabi’s intellectual property.

Including the upfront payment, GSK said in a statement announcing the deal, Nabi could receive more than $500 million in option fees and regulatory, development and sales milestones for NicVAX and follow-on nicotine vaccines.

GSK said Nabi will also receive double-digit royalties on global sales of NicVAX if GSK exercises its option as well as royalties on global sales of next-generation nicotine vaccines.

"If approved, this smoking cessation vaccine technology could be a novel solution to help the millions of smokers who want to stop smoking and remain abstinent; a habit that is well documented to be very hard to stop permanently," said Jean Stephenne, president of GSK Biologicals.

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