Novavax and Bharat Biotech form alliance for influenza vaccine development

Novavax and Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL), have jointly announced a strategic alliance to pursue the rapid development of pandemic influenza vaccine for India and certain other south Asian markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, BBIL will fund 100% of the pre-clinical and clinical studies for these markets and assist in developing an efficient manufacturing process for the Virus-Like Particle (VLP) based influenza vaccine. BBIL will be responsible for the sale and distribution of the vaccine in India and other surrounding countries. Novavax will receive unrestricted access to all pre-clinical and clinical data generated by BBIL and will receive a double digit royalty on all future sales located within BBIL's geographic territories.

Cases of avian influenza (Bird Flu) in poultry and humans have been occurring sporadically throughout the world, prompting the World Health Organization to call avian flu the greatest concern to human health. There are at least 16 Hemagglutinin and 9 Neuraminidase genes within various subtypes of influenza viruses known to circulate in wild waterfowl, each with the potential to infect and cause severe disease in poultry and humans. Three avian influenza subtypes (H9N2, H7N7, and H5N1) have transmitted to humans in recent years and are considered major threats for a pandemic outbreak.