Novavax and Bharat Biotech announce flu vaccine alliance

Under the terms of the agreement, Bharat Biotech International (BBIL) will fund 100% of the preclinical and clinical studies for these south Asian markets and assist in developing an efficient manufacturing process for the virus-like particle (VLP) based influenza vaccine.

BBIL will be responsible for the sale and distribution of the vaccine in India and other surrounding countries. Novavax will receive unrestricted access to all preclinical and clinical data generated by BBIL and will receive a double digit royalty on all future sales located within BBIL’s geographic territories.

Novavax’ VLP vaccines use recombinant DNA technology to produce antigenic structures that mimic a virus to produce a protective immune response without the risk of infection or disease.

This is the first time that VLP technology has been applied to create an influenza virus vaccine. Novavax believes the technology is a particularly good fit for addressing pandemic influenza because it obviates the reliance on the supply of embryonated eggs for the production of the vaccine. In addition, this technology can be used to rapidly create vaccines against emerging threats or new strains of existing pathogens.

“This is a very positive development,” commented Dr M K Bhan, secretary of the Indian government’s Department of Biotechnology. “In the spirit of combining global expertise to collectively combat the threat posed by the rapidly spreading avian influenza virus, the department of biotechnology and the government of India stand ready to provide all enabling support to ensure the success of this partnership between Novavax and BBIL.”