Sanofi Pasteur accesses ProBioGen's AGE1.CR® cell lines for various pox-vectored vaccine products under development

Berlin, Germany, 03 February 2009

ProBioGen, a leading biotechnology company in cell engineering and production of biopharmaceuticals, announced today that Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the Sanofi-Aventis Group, has signed a research and option agreement for ProBioGen’s proprietary AGE1.CR® cell lines. The cell lines may be used for Sanofi’s portfolio of pox-vectored vaccine products, some of which are now in preclinical and clinical stages of development in a variety of indications.

Under the research agreement, ProBioGen will optimize the production process for the specific vaccines. Furthermore, Sanofi is granted access to the extensively characterised Master Cell Bank and to initiate the GMP program. Originally, Sanofi Pasteur had obtained the cell lines under a feasibility agreement, which led to the generation of a comprehensive data package on ProBioGen’s AGE1.CR® cell lines. Sanofi Pasteur has also secured an option to enter into a non-exclusive commercial license agreement with industry-typical upfront and milestone payments and royalties. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

"This is a clear breakthrough for our proprietary AGE1.CR® technology that we have developed in cooperation with our partner IDT Biologics. Sanofi Pasteur, the recognized leader in the vaccines business, is interested in our platform technology after an in-depth evaluation," stated Michael Schlenk, CEO at ProBioGen. "An outstanding productivity and an excellent safety profile combined with the broad applicability of the cell lines could make AGE1.CR® the new state-of-the-art technology. Moreover, the AGE1.CR® cell lines may be used for the manufacturing of clinical stage compounds very soon."

 

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