VBI Vaccines Announces Submission of Marketing Authorization Application for 3-Antigen Prophylactic Hepatitis B Vaccine to the European Medicines Agency
November 23, 2020 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VBI Vaccines Inc. (Nasdaq: VBIV) (VBI), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation infectious disease and immuno-oncology vaccines, today announced the submission of a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the Company’s 3-antigen prophylactic hepatitis B vaccine candidate, seeking approval for the prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of the hepatitis B virus in adults.
“We believe our 3-antigen prophylactic hepatitis B vaccine has the potential to be an important intervention in the fight to eliminate Hepatitis B infections and this MAA submission is a significant milestone for the product and VBI more generally,” said Jeff Baxter, President & CEO. “We are committed to working collaboratively with the EMA throughout the regulatory process to provide access to this vaccine in Europe. As part of the global commercialization strategy for this vaccine, we also remain on track to submit the Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the next couple of weeks.”
About Hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is one of the world’s most significant infectious disease threats with more than 290 million people infected globally. HBV infection is the leading cause of liver disease and, with current treatments, it is very difficult to cure, with many patients going on to develop liver cancers. An estimated 780,000 people die each year from complications of chronic HBV such as liver decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma.
About VBI’s 3-Antigen Hepatitis B Vaccine
This vaccine is the only 3-antigen hepatitis B vaccine, comprised of the S, pre-S1, and pre-S2 surface antigens of the hepatitis B virus, and is approved for use and commercially-available in Israel. In December 2017, VBI initiated patient dosing in a global Phase 3 clinical program that consisted of two concurrent pivotal studies: PROTECT, a safety and immunogenicity study, and CONSTANT, a lot-to-lot consistency study. Data from both the PROTECT study and the CONSTANT study, which were announced in June 2019 and January 2020, respectively, comprise the basis for the regulatory submissions in the U.S., Europe, and Canada. This vaccine is sold under the name Sci-B-Vac® in Israel.