Valneva, the European biotech firm formed last year through the merger between Intercell and Vivalis, has signed two agreements granting Emergent BioSolutions and its affiliates research and commercialization rights for new and existing vaccine candidates using Valneva’s EB66® cell line.
In addition to inking a new research license agreement with Emergent, Valneva is also transferring an already existing commercial agreement to Emergent toward developing new vaccines using EB66 technology. The commercial license being placed in Emergent's hands was originally granted to the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium for the development of tuberculosis vaccines.
The EB66 cell line is a platform for vaccine production derived from duck embryonic stem cells, which Valneva says is a potentially compelling alternative to chicken eggs for large-scale manufacturing of human and veterinary vaccines. The firm adds that it currently has more than 35 agreements with pharmaceutical companies to use EB66.
“Emergent has been addressing medical needs and emerging health threats for more than fifteen years, and we look forward to Emergent expanding the field of the EB66 cell line with their innovative vaccine development platforms,” Thomas Lingelbach, president and CEO, and Franck Grimaud, president and CBO of Valneva, said in a statement.
