Jul 13, 2010
Halifax’s Immunovaccine partners with Merck KGaA to deliver vaccine
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Tue. Jul 13 - 4:53 AM
A Halifax bioscience company is partnering with pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA in the fight against cancer.
"This agreement propels us to become a global developer of premium cancer vaccines," Immunovaccine Inc. spokesperson Jennifer Ayotte said in an interview Monday.
"It puts us on the world stage."
Immunovaccine has signed an exclusive licensing agreement for the German company’s EMD 640744 cancer vaccine. The vaccine targets solid tumours and blood-borne cancers such as leukemia.
Ayotte said the agreement, the company’s first with a major pharmaceutical company involving the treatment of human cancer, takes Immunovaccine to another level.
"This is where cancer treatment is going. Current (cancer treatment) regimes are strong, brutal and all encompassing. This stimulates the body’s immune system to seek out and destroy cancer cells. It’s more targeted."
EMD 640744 targets survivin, a protein found in 40 per cent of cancers, including melanoma, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal and multiple myeloma, Ayotte said. "The National Cancer Institute has ranked survivin as one of its top-25 most promising cancer antigens."
Immunovaccine plans to deliver the Merck vaccine using its patented DepoVax vaccine delivery system.
The DepoVax system holds vaccines in an oil suspension, allowing them to work longer and more effectively.
"We offer controlled delivery of vaccine," said Ayotte.
Randal Chase, Immunovaccine’s president and chief executive officer, said the company looks forward to developing the EMD 630744-DepoVax combination.
"Merck KGaA is a global leader with a track record of successfully developing therapies for cancer and we are excited to be working with them on such a vaccine candidate," Chase said in a news release.
Ayotte said Immunovaccine hopes to proceed with human clinical trials of the vaccine-delivery system combination as soon as possible.
"It’s a priority."
She said EMD 640744 requires approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada.
Under the agreement announced Monday, Merck will receive a percentage of the sales of any products Immunovaccine develops and commercializes using the vaccine.
Further financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1668, Merck KGaA is the world’s oldest chemical and pharmaceutical company. Operating in 64 countries with 33,600 employees, it generated $10 billion in revenues in 2009.
Last year, Immunovaccine signed an exclusive agreement with Pfizer Animal Health, a division of another global drug giant, Pfizer Inc., to use DepoVax to deliver enhanced cattle vaccines.
Earlier this year, Immunovaccine signed a research agreement with Vaxil BioTherapeutics of Israel to explore the potential of combining Vaxil’s cancer antigens with the DepoVax system.
Immunovaccine stock was trading Monday for $1.31 a share on the TSX Venture Exchange, down four cents from its previous close.
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Copyright © The Chronicle Herald, July 13, 2010