Sanofi Pasteur buys rights to meningitis B vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis, has bought the rights of a meningitis B vaccine from Emergent Biosolutions for an up-front fee of three million euros, in addition to future milestone payments dependent on the vaccine’s success.

The vaccine has been created to target a “major unmet public health need” because current vaccines provide no protection against group B streptococcus bacteria (GBS). GBS can cause serious illnesses like meningitis and affects the very young and the elderly the most.

The agreement between the two companies will see them cooperate with all aspects of production of the vaccine up until regulatory approval. Specifically, Emergent Biosciences will have responsibility for the development of the vaccine through phase I trials, with Sanofi Pasteur taking over for phase II clinical trials and onwards. Part of the agreement provides Emergent Biosciences with retrospective payments for work done on the vaccine’s development since the beginning of 2006.

Michel DeWilde, Sanofi Pasteur’s senior vice-president of research and development said: “Now, more than ever, it is clear that creative partnerships between academia, biotechnology companies, research foundations, government agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry are necessary to meet the demand for new, more technologically challenging vaccines.”

Fuad El-Hibri, chairman and chief executive officer of Emergent BioSolutions, added: “Our agreement with Sanofi Pasteur is an important step forward in the development of a critically-needed vaccine to prevent one of the world’s deadliest childhood diseases.”

According to the UK’s Meningitis Research Foundation, GBS is responsible for approximately 60 per cent of meningitis cases in Britain. Vaccines for meningitis C are currently available and have been part of immunisation programmes for everyone under the age of 25.

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