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news.Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis Group, has signed an exclusive global collaboration agreement with Acambis for the development and marketing of a West Nile vaccine.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Acambis will continue to perform development activities, up to and including the filing of a license application in the US. Acambis will receive an upfront payment of $10 million and would be eligible for pre- and post-marketing milestone payments of up to $70 million.
The West Nile vaccine candidate is currently in a Phase II clinical trial in adults aged 41 to 64 years and 65 years and above. Preliminary data from a previous Phase II trial in healthy adults have shown that over 98% of subjects developed specific antibodies in the serum 28 days after a single vaccination. The safety profile of the vaccine has been shown to be satisfactory.
Ian Garland, CEO of Acambis, said: “Since 1999, when it was detected in the US, the West Nile virus has spread across the entire continental US, causing 27,240 cases and 1,054 deaths. Vaccination is the ideal approach to tackling this disease and, through this unique collaboration, we aim to bring this vaccine to market as rapidly as possible.”