CSL Promises $4 Billion In Biobucks For Arcturus’ Self-Amplifying mRNA Vaccines

Vaccine provider CSL Seqirus is turning to Arcturus’ self-amplifying mRNA vaccines in the fight against respiratory infections. The collaboration, estimated to be worth $4.2 billion, will grant CSL Seqirus a license to use Arcturus’ self-amplifying mRNA vaccine technology to develop, produce, and market mRNA vaccines against prevalent respiratory infectious diseases. 

“We are excited to embark on this collaboration with CSL Seqirus, a respected world leader in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of vaccines,” said Joseph Payne, President and CEO of Arcturus Therapeutics in a statement. 

“We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership as we work together to develop next-generation self-amplifying mRNA vaccines to protect against the most prevalent infectious diseases,” he said.

The fresh influx of funds for Arcturus’ self-amplifying mRNA vaccine development follows an award from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) which will provide $63.2 million over three years to advance vaccine production as well as preclinical and safety studies.

Related Article: GSK’s RSV Vaccine Candidate Has Won Another Regulatory Review

Terms Of The $4.2 Billion Collaboration 

Under the terms of the agreement, Arcturus will grant CSL Seqirus a license to their self-amplifying mRNA technology called STARR and LUNAR lipid-mediated delivery. Arcturus will also contribute mRNA drug substance and drug product manufacturing support, while CSL will be responsible for the development, production, and marketing of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), influenza, and three other prevalent respiratory infectious diseases.

Arcturus will receive an upfront payment of $200 million, which could balloon to $4 billion — $1.3 billion in development milestones and $3 billion in commercial milestones. The San Diego-based biotech will also receive 40% of net profits for COVID-19 vaccine products and double-digit royalties for vaccines created under the collaboration. 

In April, Arcturus announced topline data from an ongoing Phase 1/2/3 trial of ARCT-154, its self-amplifying mRNA vaccine candidate for COVID-19, showing ARCT-154 was 95% effective in preventing severe disease and 55% effective in preventing symptomatic disease. The study enrolled 19,000 adults in Vietnam, during a time when the Delta and Omicron variants were dominant in the country. 

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Joy Lin

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