The North Carolina-based company AlphaVax has sold the rights to an experimental vaccine it is developing for $20 million to Novartis, the multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland.

Provided that the treatment with the experimental vaccine will prove efficient in clinical trials, Novartis will also have to pay extra milestone fees and royalties.

The vaccine could help prevent cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common type of Herpes virus that can cause serious complications in people with weakened immune systems – for instance, AIDS or cancer sufferers, as well as newborns.

"We are happy to gain access to a promising vaccine candidate for the prevention of cytomegalovirus infections," said Andrin Oswald, CEO of Novartis' vaccines and diagnostics arm.

The deal was announced Monday by Novartis, which is responsible for the commercialization of the drug across the world. The vaccine is expected to enter phase II clinical trials in the coming year.

Since 1997, when it was funded, AlphaVax has attracted over $125 million in grants, private equity and other funding. The company that has bought the rights to the experimental drug will develop it through early-stage human trials.

According to Novartis, almost 80 percent of people in the U.S. carry CMV by the time they reach adulthood. Usually, they don’t feel any symptoms, but some of them may experience low fever, fatigue or enlarged lymph nodes.

Cytomegalovirus is present in body fluids (such as urine, saliva and semen) and can be transmitted via kissing, sexual contact, the sharing of food or from mother to fetus.