Sanofi Pasteur and Immune Design to develop herpes vaccine

Sanofi Pasteur has announced a new collaboration with Immune Design focusing on the development of a herpes simplex virus (HSV) immune therapy.

Both companies will contribute product candidates to the collaboration, including Sanofi's HSV-529 and Immune Design's G103. The partners are to examine the potential of various combinations of agents to determine the best available option.

The two firms will develop the products jointly through to the phase II testing stage, at which point Sanofi Pasteur will continue development of the most promising candidate, taking responsibility for commercialisation of the product.

Sanofi Pasteur will bear the costs of all preclinical and clinical development, with Immune Design to receive milestone payments in exchange for the use of its technology.

Dr John Shiver, senior vice-president for research and development at Sanofi Pasteur, said: "Given the challenges of vaccine development, collaborations are important to help ensure that the medical need will eventually be met."

This comes after the firm also recently launched a clinical study of a new rotavirus vaccine in India, via its Hyderabad-based affiliate Shantha Biotechnics.