Celldex Announces License of its Cholera and ETEC Vaccine Programs
NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLDX - News) today announced that it has entered into an exclusive license and development agreement with Vaccine Technologies, Inc. (VTI). Under the license agreement, Celldex has granted a worldwide fee- and royalty-bearing exclusive license to VTI to develop and commercialize Celldex’s CholeraGarde® and ETEC vaccine programs. Financial details of the agreement with VTI were not disclosed, but include upfront license fees, milestone payments and royalties on net sales of licensed products during the term of the agreement.
VTI plans to continue the clinical development of the CholeraGarde and ETEC programs in conjunction with Celldex’s current partners, The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), an institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), respectively. The IVI is presently conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial of CholeraGarde in Bangladesh, with plans to sponsor additional Phase 2 studies in India and Thailand beginning in the first half of 2009, followed by Phase 3 field studies. IVI has purchased clinical materials produced at Celldex’s Fall River, MA manufacturing facility for these trials. The NIAID is presently conducting a Phase 1 study of the ETEC investigational single-dose, oral vaccine designed to offer combined protection against both enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and cholera at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
“We are pleased to have found a partner with the capabilities to maximize the potential of these important programs to succeed,” stated Anthony S. Marucci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. “This partnership allows us to monetize the potential of these assets while we focus Celldex’s resources on our Precision Targeted Immunotherapy Platform and the clinical and preclinical programs that are emerging from this novel approach to immunotherapy.”
VTI is a company with offices and research laboratories in Boston, MA and a vaccine manufacturing facility in Haikou, China. Dr. Yichen Lu, President and CEO of VTI, stated “VTI has several initiatives underway including vaccines targeting hepatitis and influenza. Licensing of the CholeraGarde and ETEC vaccine programs is complementary and consistent with our goal to be a highly competitive vaccine research and development center and manufacturer in China ultimately towards commercialization of vaccines worldwide.” |
