Medeva And Janssen In Vaccine Agreement

UK drug company Medeva has signed a codevelopment and comarketing deal with Janssen Pharmaceutica, part of the Johnson & Johnson group, for Medeva's hepatitis B vaccine in the Asia Pacific Region, excluding Japan.

Under the terms of the agreement, Janssen will be responsible for undertaking clinical trials, making regulatory submissions and marketing in the region. Medeva will be responsible for manufacturing, at its Speke factory in the UK, and for supply. Prior to product launch, Medeva will receive staged payments from Janssen, linked mainly to regulatory submissions and approvals.

Janssen is the largest multinational pharmaceutical company in Korea and China, according to Medeva. These two countries are the two most significant markets in the region regarding hepatitis B. It is estimated that there are around 200 million carriers of the virus in China and Korea.