A research proposal with total funding of $33.1m involving a collaboration among CureVac, Sanofi Pasteur and In-Cell-Art, a French biotech company contributing its nanoparticle technology, has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US.
The four year project will study various vaccine candidates in a number of relevant disease models.
CureVac and Sanofi Pasteur have also signed an option agreement with pre-agreed license terms for several pre-defined pathogens.
Sanofi Pasteur’s option rights are linked to fulfillment of certain agreed acceptance criteria relating to the DARPA project.
CureVac retains the rights to its own core development programs and to all of its background technology for any other pathogens outside those within the Sanofi Pasteur option.
Under the terms of the license agreements, CureVac is entitled to receive an upfront payment from Sanofi Pasteur for each pathogen, research funding and payments for achieving several clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Sanofi Pasteur will fund all research and development activities and will have exclusive marketing rights worldwide for RNActive vaccines against the pathogens for which Sanofi Pasteur has exercised the option.