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news.MedImmune, the biologics business for the AstraZeneca Group, has licensed its proprietary reverse genetics intellectual property to Biken, The Research Foundation for Microbial Diseases of Osaka University in Japan to support the development and construction of new vaccine strains to produce non-live human influenza vaccines.
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MedImmune will receive an upfront payment and has the potential to receive royalties on certain vaccine stockpiles or sales of other influenza products developed using the reverse genetics technology.
Reverse genetics is a method by which viruses such as influenza can be generated from segments of DNA. For potential pandemic influenza vaccines, reverse genetics can be a useful technology because the process does not require manufacturers to work directly with potentially highly infectious pandemic strains, such as H5N1, rather only with segments of the virus’s genome, MedImmune said.
Sun Park, MedImmune’s vice president of corporate development, said: “Biken is the first Japanese influenza vaccine manufacturer to have entered into licensing agreements with MedImmune for access to the reverse genetics technology, and we are pleased that Biken’s pre-pandemic vaccine using this technology is a key part of an ongoing Japanese government public health pilot program to vaccinate about 6,000 first responders and healthcare providers against a potential bird flu outbreak.”