Sanofi Pasteur and Translate Bio to develop new mRNA vaccines

Global vaccine company Sanofi Pasteur has signed a research and development (R&D) collaboration and exclusive licensing agreement with therapeutics company Translate Bio to develop new vaccines using mRNA technology.

The multi-year deal will focus on devising treatments for five undisclosed infectious diseases. During the first three years, the partners will jointly work on R&D to advance the vaccines.

Under the terms of the agreement, Translate Bio will receive $45m upfront from Sanofi Pasteur, which will also pay around $805m in development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments covering various vaccine targets.

If Sanofi Pasteur decides to exercise its option involving the development of vaccines for other pathogens, the company will option exercise fees to Translate Bio.

"The Translate Bio platform may allow us to further address medical needs worldwide, including those not readily accessible using conventional vaccine strategies."

Translate is also eligible for royalty payments related to global sales of the vaccines resulting from the collaboration.

Sanofi Pasteur R&D senior vice-president John Shiver said: "We believe mRNA technology has significant potential for rapid and versatile manufacturing, reduced industrialisation costs for multiple vaccines, and the improved breadth of immune response for infectious disease vaccines.

"The Translate Bio platform may allow us to further address medical needs worldwide, including those not readily accessible using conventional vaccine strategies."

Sanofi Pasteur will be responsible for all research costs and gain exclusive worldwide commercialisation rights.

Translate Bio CEO Ronald Renaud said: "We believe that this partnership validates the potential of our mRNA platform, and also enables us to apply our mRNA technology beyond the current therapeutic applications that we are pursuing in cystic fibrosis (CF) and ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency, ultimately advancing our goal of delivering innovative medicines to patients."

Translate will be responsible for clinical manufacture and may receive additional payments under a separate supply agreement, which has yet to be established.

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