Brii Biosciences buying VBI Vaccine’s hepatitis B therapy

Brii Biosciences, a Durham biotechnology company with global headquarters in China, plans to buy the intellectual property and other remaining assets of a defunct company’s drug candidate for treating Hepatitis B virus.

Brii said it agreed to purchase the assets from VBI Vaccines Inc. and its creditors for $18 million. The deal gives Brii full access to the remaining IP, patents and materials related to BRII-179, an immunotherapy in Phase 2 clinical trials.

The agreement brings to a close a relationship between the two companies that originated in 2018, when they agreed to collaborate in developing the Hepatitis B treatment.

In 2023, Brii paid $15 million to expand the collaboration, buying global licensing rights for the BRI-179. In February 2024 Brii announced an agreement to purchase VBI’s IP in exchange for issuing a promissory note to VBI. But that deal wasn’t completed because VBI sought protection from creditors in a Canadian court and started seeking a buyer for its remaining assets.

The new agreement advances Brii’s efforts to introduce BRII-179 as a treatment with a potentially higher functional cure rate for patients with chronic Hepatitis B virus, the company said in a news release.

“This transaction ensures us with uninterrupted clinical supply of BRI-179 and complete ownership of its IP,” said Zhi Hong, Ph.D., Brii’s chairman and CEO. “It vests more value of BRI-179 in Brii’s shareholders as we advance to late-stage development.”

With U.S. headquarters in Durham and global headquarters in Beijing, Brii launched in 2018 and secured $155 million in Series C financing in 2021 to expand its infectious disease pipeline. With its initial deal last year to purchase VBI’s BRII-179 IP, the company pivoted to focus on the clinical and commercial development of its Hepatitis B program. Brii stock is traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.