CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (GNCA), a biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation neoantigen immunotherapies, today announced it has entered into a material transfer agreement (MTA) and exclusive license option with Shionogi & Co., Ltd. to develop a novel HSV-2 vaccine using Genocea’s proprietary HSV-2 antigens from the GEN-003 program, which the company discontinued in 2017.

Under the terms of the agreement, Shionogi will pay $2 million for the exclusive option to evaluate the HSV-2 antigens and to negotiate a license prior to expiration of the MTA. Upon exercise of Shionogi’s option, terms of the license are expected to include an upfront payment, regulatory and sales milestones, as well as tiered royalties. Final terms of the license agreement will be based on results of the MTA evaluation and overall diligence. If licensed, Shionogi will assume responsibility for global development and commercialization of the HSV-2 vaccine product.

“The HSV-2 antigens were identified by our proprietary ATLAS^TM platform. This agreement with Shionogi further validates our ATLAS technology to identify clinically relevant and best-in-class antigens across a range of illnesses, including infectious diseases and cancer. We are incredibly pleased to support Shionogi’s efforts to develop a novel vaccine for the millions of people seeking more effective treatment options for their genital herpes disease,” said Chip Clark, President and Chief Executive Officer, Genocea.

“The agreement with Genocea is an important step forward in our ability to discover leading vaccines and therapies that address infectious diseases with high unmet medical need – a core research area of ongoing interest for Shionogi. We are committed to helping genital herpes patients better control outbreaks and preventing further epidemic spread of the virus,” said Dr. Ryuichi Kiyama, Senior Executive Officer, Executive Vice President, Pharmaceutical Research Division, Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

About Genocea Biosciences, Inc.
Genocea’s mission is to conquer cancer by developing personalized cancer immunotherapies in multiple tumor types. Our unique ATLAS™ platform comprehensively profiles each patient’s T cell responses to potential targets, or antigens, on the tumor. ATLAS enables us to optimize the neoantigens for inclusion in our immunotherapies and exclude inhibitory antigens that can exert an immunosuppressive effect. We are advancing two ATLAS-enabled programs: GEN-009, our neoantigen vaccine for which we are conducting a Phase 1/2a clinical trial and expect preliminary clinical results in the third quarter of 2020, and GEN-011, our neoantigen-specific cell therapy using T cells derived from peripheral blood, for which we intend to file an Investigational New Drug Application in the second quarter of 2020. To learn more, please visit www.genocea.com.