Merial Ltd. of Duluth, Ga., and the Infectious Disease Research Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit biotechnology organization, reported today that they are collaborating on the research and development of certain animal vaccines. Under a new license option agreement, Merial can use IDRI’s proprietary subunit antigens and adjuvant in a vaccine. Merial would then be responsible for any vaccine development and commercialization. Merial has also agreed to sponsor research at IDRI to evaluate the combination of IDRI’s and Merial’s vaccine technologies for second-generation vaccines. Laurent Fischer, DVM, Ph.D., of Merial and Ajay Bhatia, Ph.D., of IDRI will lead the research. In addition, the agreements include global access provisions whereby resulting licensed products are guaranteed to be used in developing countries. These particular terms are meant to align with IDRI’s nonprofit charitable mission — “to apply innovative science to the research and development of products to prevent, detect and treat infectious diseases of poverty,” according to IDRI. The nonprofit is also developing human vaccines, separate from this arrangement with Merial. <HOME>
