Earlier this year MSD exercised its option on a separate Evaxion vaccine candidate, EVX-B3. Evaxion is eligible for milestone payments up to USD 592 million associated with the development of EVX-B3, as well as royalties on net sales.

“While we are disappointed by MSD’s decision not to exercise its option, we remain excited by, and committed to, the EVX-B2 program. The data we have generated to date are encouraging and underscore EVX-B2’s potential to be the first approved vaccine for Gonorrhea, addressing a major unmet medical need. We will now initiate the process of finding another partner on EVX-B2,” says Helen Tayton-Martin, CEO at Evaxion.

Evaxion did not include a potential in-licensing of EVX-B2 by MSD in its cash-flow outlook. Thus, the decision by MSD does not impact its cash runway which still extends to the second half of 2027, it states.

MSD’s option was on the protein-based version of EVX-B2. Separately, Evaxion is also developing an mRNA-version of the candidate in collaboration with Afrigen Biologics.