赛诺菲巴斯德与德国CureVac加强在mRNA领域研究合作

2014年7月6日讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --法国赛诺菲巴斯德制药公司与德国CureVac公司早在2011年就已经建立了广泛合作关系，现在双方决定在mRNA疫苗领域进一步强化这种合作伙伴关系。本周早些时候，赛诺菲宣布公司将开发一种基于Curevac公司的RNActive技术的疫苗，这一协议将带给CureVac公司高达2亿5百万美元的里程碑研究经费以及销售提成。赛诺菲研发高管Nicolas Burdin表示CureVac公司的RNActive技术将为赛诺菲的疫苗研发提供更为广阔的平台。RNActive技术的一大优势在于基于此技术的疫苗可以在常温保存，且在意外冷冻条件下疫苗不会失活。这为在发展中国家推广疫苗免疫，帮助这些国家和地区低收入人群对抗疾病有极其重大的意义。

详细英文报道：

Sanofi Pasteur and Germany's CureVac first joined up in 2011 with a licensing option agreement for a slew of pathogens. Now, they're beefing up their partnership with another licensing deal, this one giving the French company rights to a new mRNA-based vaccine.

Sanofi has exercised its option for exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market the vaccine, which uses CureVac's RNActive technology and works against an undisclosed pathogen, the pair said earlier this week. The pact will bring CureVac an unspecified upfront payment, along with potential milestones worth up to €150.5 million ($205 million) and royalties tied to sales.

"Sanofi Pasteur's basic objective of finding new vaccine solutions to address patients' needs is furthered by our collaboration with CureVac," Nicolas Burdin, Sanofi's head of discovery research, said in a statement. "Accessing CureVac's innovative mRNA technology may allow Sanofi Pasteur to exploit a platform that can be more broadly applicable across indications to develop vaccines, as the RNActive technology is expected to complement conventional technologies."

The appeal of RNActive vaccines lies in their ability to withstand high temps and unintentional freezing, all the while staying safe and cost-effective. With many of the world's tropical areas prone to infectious diseases, producing vaccines that can hack it in extreme climates is a high priority for many vaccine makers.

Those factors also helped lead Sanofi to extend its options--exclusive and non-exclusive--on all 5 pathogens from the companies' original deal, which they inked nearly three years back to the tune of €150 million. Now that CureVac has met all the agreement's milestones and other criteria, Sanofi will fork over a separate undisclosed payment for extending the pathogens' option term.

"We are very pleased that our RNActive technology platform has reached all significant milestones in this important collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company entirely dedicated to vaccines," CureVac CEO Ingmar Hoerr said in a statement. "Our mRNA-based approach shows significant advantages for the development of vaccines, particularly for infectious diseases, such as thermostability and low cost of goods after up-scaling."