GSKsigns nicotine vaccine deal
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals and a unit of GlaxoSmithKline yesterday signed a licensing agreement for Nabi’s experimental vaccine to treat nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse, the firms said, sending Nabi shares up 26 per cent. Nabi will get $40m (£23.7m) upfront and is eligible to get more than $500m in option fees and milestones for the vaccine, NicVAX, and follow-on nicotine vaccines, the companies said in a statement. In return, GSK will get an option to exclusively licence NicVAX on a worldwide basis and a licence to develop follow on nicotine vaccines.