Patent could lead to new royalty revenue: CSL

A new US patent issued to CSL (ASX:CSL) and the University of Queensland over human papillomavirus (HPV) will lead to royalty revenue if drug giant Merck launches a vaccine for the virus in the US.

The main claim granted to CSL by the US Patent and Trade Mark Office was to the sequence of the surface protein of the HPV 16 serotype necessary for the formation of virus-like particles.

HPV is the agent of genital wards and cervical cancer, the second most common female cancer. In November last year, CSL and Merck published details of the vaccine in the New England Journal of Medicine.

It has already been more than a decade in development. In 1991, Prof Ian Frazer at UQ identified the virus' L-1 coat protein of HPV as a prospective target for a vaccine. CSL signed an agreement with UQ in 1991 to commercialise Frazer's discovery. In 1995, CSL gave Merck an exclusive licence to commercialise the technology, in return for a royalty on all overseas sales, and the right to market the vaccine itself in Australia and New Zealand.

CSL said a patent had also been granted in Europe relating to HPV6 and 11, two other components of the vaccine.

Background reading

CSL celebrates cervical cancer vaccine success, November 21, 2002