Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) announced that they had signed an agreement whereby Crucell will develop AdVac vectors for use in IAVI's AIDS vaccine development programme. Earlier this year, Crucell and IAVI had entered into an exclusive license agreement to develop an AIDS vaccine based on Crucell's AdVac technology.
The AdVac vectors, adenovirus serotypes 11 and 35, have shown promising results as vectors for AIDS vaccines in a series of studies by Crucell in collaboration with Harvard Medical School. AdVac technology is also being applied by Crucell in the production of a malaria vaccine in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the NIH, as well as a TB vaccine in collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation.
IAVI is a global not-for-profit organization working to accelerate the development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection and AIDS. Founded in 1996 and operational in 23 countries, IAVI and its network of collaborators research and develop vaccine candidates.