Merial and Biolex to collaborate on vaccine development

Merial has agreed to collaborate with Biolex Therapeutics on the development of new veterinary vaccines.

The alliance will grant Merial access to Biolex’s Lemna expression (LEX) system, a platform which utilises duckweed plants for vaccine manufacturing which is cheaper, more effective and provides reduced biosecurity problems.

It will be used to assist in the production of several Merial targeted compounds with confirmed efficacy, while the collaboration will also involve research and development of other treatments.

Ellen de Brabander, Merial’s chief scientific officer and head of global research and development, said it has been impressed by the potential of the system over the course of its prior work with Biolex.

She added: “This agreement is an exciting and significant step towards building a next generation manufacturing environment for a new and innovative class of biological products for animals.”

This follows Merial’s announcement earlier this month that it will also be working with the Infectious Disease Research Institute in order to create second-generation vaccines.