Johnson & Johnson Terminates Collaboration with Bavarian Nordic on HBV and HPV Vaccine Programs

On May 9, Johnson & Johnson announced the termination of its collaboration and license agreement with Bavarian Nordic. The agreement primarily involved utilizing Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN technology to develop potential vaccines for the hepatitis B virus and human papillomavirus. Currently, Johnson & Johnson has not used this technology to develop a hepatitis B vaccine.

For hepatitis B, Johnson & Johnson will continue to prioritize the use of its technology platform to develop related therapeutic drugs. This is because hepatitis B remains a serious health issue, affecting approximately 296 million people worldwide, and causing nearly 900,000 deaths annually.

Regarding the human papillomavirus, as preventive vaccines are already widely used, Johnson & Johnson does not plan to focus its research on therapeutic vaccines.

However, Johnson & Johnson's collaboration with the company in HIV and Ebola virus research is still ongoing.