Momentum builder

Instead of taking on vaccine powerhouses Merck & Co. Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline plc, both of which market hepatitis B vaccines, Dynavax Technologies Corp. thought it would be more beneficial to join forces to promote its own HBV vaccine. Last week, DVAX chose MRK as its partner, granting an exclusive worldwide license to Heplisav.

Heplisav consists of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) given with immunostimulatory DNA sequences (ISS) that target toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). The product is in Phase III testing, with data expected in 1H08...