Sanofi to develop monoclonal antibody jabs

Sanofi-Aventis is to develop a range of monoclonal antibody for use against infectious diseases.

The French pharma company’s vaccines arm has signed a discovery and development agreement with its biopharma compatriot Vivalis that will see Sanofi Pasteur acquire exclusive access to Vivalis’ technology platform.

Michel de Wilde, senior VP of research and development at Sanofi Pasteur, said: “Passive immunisation can be a powerful treatment option against infectious diseases in sometimes life threatening situations.

“Vivalis’ Humalex technology allows rapid identification of clinically relevant fully human antibodies, as well as their related antigen. This opens up new medical solutions to prevent or treat serious infections.”

Under the terms of their agreement, Sanofi Pasteur will have worldwide exclusive development and commercialisation rights for the any antibodies discovered.

In return, Vivalis will receive an upfront payment of three million euros, and may receive development milestone payments of up to 35 million euros as well as royalty payments on future product sales.

Sanofi Pasteur will also fund some collaborative research activities related to the infectious diseases programmes.

Vivalis chief executive Franck Grimaud said: "We are very excited about this collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur. This is the first major commercial agreement on the Humalex platform but it also represents a strong validation of the technology.

“Vivalis is today one of a very few companies able to propose a fully integrated offering from the discovery of fully human monoclonal antibodies to the production of clinical batches.”

Ben Adams