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news.The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium, a joint venture between the University of Oxford and Emergent BioSolutions, has signed a commercial licensing agreement with French biopharmaceutical company Vivalis to evaluate large scale commercial production capabilities for MVA85A, the Consortium's new TB vaccine candidate.
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Under the commercial agreement, the Consortium will explore production of MVA85A using the Vivalis EB66 cell line, which is derived from duck embryonic stem cells. This cell line possesses unique industrial and regulatory characteristics such as long term genetic stability and immortality, growth in serum free medium, and proliferation at high cell densities in suspension.
The Consortium recently initiated a Phase IIb clinical trial to evaluate MVA85A in approximately 2,784 children less than one year of age in South Africa. It is expected that the trial will generate important safety, immunogenicity and preliminary efficacy data about the vaccine candidate.
The commercial license includes an upfront payment to Vivalis as well as development milestone payments and royalties on future sales of the TB candidate.
Franck Grimaud, CEO of Vivalis, said: “Vivalis is proud to be selected by the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium to advance their modified vaccinia virus Ankara-based vaccine. Our EB66 cell line is recognized by a large majority of vaccine developers and this agreement adds the Consortium to our growing list of customers proving our cell line is a serious contender for biologics production.”