Here is some other vaccine news of note for the week:
> Dynavax’s Heplisav-B has been off to a slow start. Launched in the U.S. last January, the hepatitis B vaccine pulled in $3.9 million in fourth-quarter revenue, up from $1.5 million in the third quarter. Competition is close behind, as VBI Vaccines is comparing its Sci-B-Vac to GlaxoSmithKline’s Engerix B in phase 3 studies and expects topline readouts in 2019. Dynavax release | VBI release
> Janssen and Bavarian Nordic have officially started a phase 1/2a study evaluating a prime-boost therapeutic vaccine regimen for early treatment and interception of HPV-induced cancers. Release
> Athanasios Papadopoulos, M.D., most recently a Sanofi executive who played a critical role in the development of Dengvaxia, has been appointed as Emergex Vaccines’ chief medical officer. Release
> Emergent BioSolutions reported fourth-quarter revenues of $270.7 million, boosted by some recently acquired products such as opioid overdose-reversing drug Narcan, typhoid vaccine Vivotif and cholera vaccine Vaxchora. Release
> Valneva’s sales grew 16% in 2018 at constant exchange rates, reaching €103.5 million ($117.8 million). The company now expects sales in 2019 of between €115 million and €125 million. Release
> Batavia Biosciences received a $13.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to make inactivated polio vaccines based on its newly developed low-cost manufacturing process known as HIP-IPV. Release