BioVeris Corporation has entered into a new Technology License Agreement with Baxter Healthcare Corporation. BioVeris received an exclusive, worldwide license to certain patent rights and know-how to use Neisseria meningitidis group Y and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) components in new vaccine candidates for the prevention of invasive disease, including meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia.
These new vaccine candidates, which may be used in combination with other vaccines, are expected to have the advantage of reducing the number of injections that a child would receive during a single office visit, a BioVeris press release stated.
Under the Technology License Agreement, BioVeris receives exclusive rights, subject to potential future modification, to patents and know-how related to the manufacture, production, use, marketing, distribution and sale of the vaccine or vaccine combination candidates. The company paid a license issue fee and may also make additional future payments for patent costs, milestone fees for initiating and completing human clinical trials and receiving regulatory approvals. The company is also required to pay royalties on product sales and, beginning in 2011, is required to pay a minimum annual royalty that will be reduced by the amount of any milestone payments and royalties payable to Baxter under the Technology License Agreement for the applicable calendar year.
In December 2006, BioVeris licensed from Baxter the nonexclusive, worldwide patent rights and know-how to use Neisseria meningitidis group C vaccines as a component in new vaccine candidates for the prevention of meningitis and sepsis. BioVeris already has licensed from Baxter and others, exclusive rights to commercialize products for possible use in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease caused by group B meningococci, group A streptococci, group B streptococci and pneumococci. The vaccine candidates covered by the new Technology License Agreement are similarly based on a conjugate technology platform and also include recombinant protein antigens. These vaccine candidates are expected to complement and expand the existing intellectual property and vaccine candidates at BioVeris.
Meningococcal disease, as meningitis or sepsis, is a bacterial infection that strikes approximately 1.2 million people worldwide each year, resulting in over 100,000 deaths. Of the 1400-2800 cases occurring annually in the United States, 10-14 percent of the patients will die. For the survivors, 11- 19 percent suffer long-term permanent disabilities such as hearing loss, brain damage and limb amputations. Meningococcal disease often begins with symptoms that can be mistaken for common viral illnesses, such as the flu. It can progress very rapidly and kill an otherwise healthy young person in 48 hours or less. Communitywide outbreaks of meningococcal disease can persist for several months and controlling them remains a major challenge in public health.
Hib disease predominantly occurred as meningitis during the pre-vaccine era in the United States, originally accounting for 50-65 percent of cases. Presently there are licensed Hib vaccines available and recommended as part of the childhood immunization schedule, but none are licensed in combination with other bacterial vaccines for infants in the United States.
BioVeris Corporation is a global health care and biosecurity company developing proprietary technologies in diagnostics and vaccinology. The company is dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative products and services for healthcare providers, their patients and their communities. BioVeris is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.