GSK has secured an exclusive, worldwide license from Japan-based Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Tokyo: 4519) for AID351, a preclinical pan-serotype anti-dengue virus monoclonal antibody, converting an exploratory collaboration signed in January 2025 into a full development commitment. Under the agreement, GSK assumes responsibility for Phase I and subsequent clinical trials and manufacturing, while Chugai retains eligibility for royalties on future product sales and a share of any sublicensing income GSK collects from third parties. No upfront payment or total deal value was disclosed.
AID351 was originated through a joint project between Chugai Pharmabody Research (CPR), the company's Singapore-based discovery subsidiary, and ASTAR Singapore Immunology Network (ASTAR SIgN), with the National University of Singapore contributing the lead antibody. Chugai applied its proprietary antibody engineering technologies to optimize the molecule, which the company describes as designed to neutralize all four dengue serotypes. The project received grant funding twice from the Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund. No approved monoclonal antibody treatment for dengue fever currently exists; the approved products in the space — Sanofi's Dengvaxia and Takeda's Qdenga — are vaccines rather than therapeutics.
The non-disclosure of deal financials, combined with the fact that the counterparty is GSK's Global Health unit rather than its commercial pharma division, is consistent with the access-oriented economics that typically govern neglected tropical disease partnerships — where royalty rates are often tiered for lower-income markets and upfront payments may be nominal or replaced by development cost commitments.
GSK's interest in dengue predates the AID351 collaboration. The company has pursued dengue vaccines since at least the early 2000s and in 2009 established a vaccine R&D collaboration with Brazil's Fiocruz, while a separate program with the US Army advanced a purified inactivated dengue vaccine into Phase I trials in 2012. AID351 shifts that longstanding interest from prevention toward treatment and sits within GSK's broader Global Health strategy, under which the company committed GBP 1 billion over 10 years from 2022 to accelerate R&D targeting diseases including malaria, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistance, and neglected tropical diseases.
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article