Avesthagen Ltd has just signed a letter of intent with Paris-based ShigaMediX SAS for developing a novel therapeutic vaccine against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), which causes cervical cancer. Researchers have found that this accounts for an estimated 24 per cent of India's cancer cases in women and approximately 130,000 new cases annually across the globe.

Therapeutic vaccines are products that treat existing disease conditions and will be developed using ShigaMedix's Antigen Vector System technology. The system targets the antigen presenting dendritic cells through the coupling of Shiga Toxin and HPV 16 / E 7 complex. Recent studies on animals have shown it to be effective in clearing the HPV induced tumour cells.

A similar technology will be used to develop an STxB - TB vaccine. Avesthagen and ShigaMediX will co-develop this technology in both France and India through the Proof of Concept and would share the costs and rewards on an equal basis' said Dr. Villoo Morawala-Patell, Founder and CMD, Avesthagen Ltd on signing the Letter of Intent.

The companies are in the final stages of concluding the co-development and licensing agreement, which will be signed in the coming weeks.

Avesthagen is India's leading integrated systems biology platform company engaged in pharma and population genetics. It has established world class, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities in Bangalore and is operating from 2001. It now has a product pipeline botanical bioactives, derived from Indian medicinal plants and bio-similar drugs. The company also has a partnership business model and has associated itself with top 10 global companies in fields of research.