Medicago USA awarded $21M to develop vaccine facility in Research Triangle Park

Aug 11 2010

-Medicago to develop a vaccine facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-

Medicago USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicago Inc. (TSX: MDG), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), today announced that it has been awarded a $21 Million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), Defense Sciences Research & Technology to demonstrate the scalable manufacturing of its plant-expressed VLP vaccines in the U.S.A. under a Technology Investment Agreement.

Medicago will develop a 90,000-square-foot cGMP facility in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. This state-of-the-art facility will be a large, cost-effective and scaled-up facility for Medicago's VLP plant-based vaccine technology for the delivery of cGMP-grade vaccine. Medicago will scale-up and automate its cGMP process to demonstrate its capacity to produce 10 million doses/month of influenza vaccines with the potential for further expansion in the future.

This DARPA project is an accelerated and integrated effort to deliver effective production of pandemic influenza in the U.S.A. The Accelerated Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals (AMP) program seeks to identify new ways to produce large amounts of high quality vaccine protein in less than 3 months in response to emerging and novel biologic threats. The strategic collaboration is a $42M project in which DARPA contributes $21M, Medicago $7.5M and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. ('Alexandria') $13.5M.

"We are thrilled to be awarded such significant funding from DARPA for the development of a state-of-the-art plant-based VLP vaccine capability in the U.S.A. as it further validates the growing and strategic interest in our rapid and cost-effective vaccine technology," said Andy Sheldon, President and CEO of Medicago. "This DARPA funding is also perfectly in line with our development plan for both our pandemic and seasonal influenza products as we will now have a U.S. facility ready to participate in the $7B pandemic and seasonal influenza markets. In addition, our U.S. facility will provide us enhanced access to the various grant programs in the U.S.A. and we will be ready to take part in these additional funding opportunities."

Alexandria Real Estate Equities is the largest owner and leading provider of high-quality environmentally sustainable real estate, technical infrastructure, and services to the broad and diverse life science industry focused in the leading life science clusters.

"We are delighted to be working with Alexandria as they are a leader in their field and it allows us to reduce the upfront capital required for the building of our new U.S. commercial grade facility," added Mr. Sheldon.

"This collaboration further highlights the emergence of plant-based platforms as viable technologies for the production of valuable products like vaccines," said Doug Dean, Senior Vice President R&D of Philip Morris International. "As Medicago have clearly demonstrated, their plant-based technology has significant benefits over traditional manufacturing methods."

During the recent H1N1 influenza outbreak, Medicago's rapid plant-based VLP vaccine technology was able to successfully develop a vaccine candidate in less than a month after identifying the H1N1 strain and is therefore one of the few technologies that can provide a solution in the case of a pandemic.

"It's vitally important to our Homeland Security that we have a robust domestic vaccine supply, and this facility will add to our production capacity helping mitigate future threats," said Congressman David Price. "Medicago's facility will ultimately bring hundreds of good paying jobs to the region, and DARPA's investment in this project is another significant contribution to local recovery efforts. This is a welcome confirmation that the Triangle continues to lead the way delivering innovative high-tech products and creating the jobs that will power a 21st Century economy." Rep. Price is the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.