Dutch biopharmaceutical company Crucell NV has signed a second exclusive, commercial license agreement with North Carolina-based Talecris Biotherapeutics for an undisclosed and specific protein and the exclusive rights to produce that protein using the PER.C6 cell line.

Crucell will receive an upfront payment of $1.5 million following the execution of the agreement and will be eligible for milestone payments of approximately $20 million. Further financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

In September Crucell announced that it had signed an exclusive, commercial license agreement with North Carolina-based Talecris Biotherapeutics also for an undisclosed and specific protein and the exclusive rights to produce that protein using the PER.C6 cell line. For that deal Crucell received an upfront payment of $2.5 million and is eligible for milestone payments of approximately $30 million across multiple indications.

Crucell's PER.C6 technology platform has been developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products such as recombinant proteins including monoclonal antibodies.

Crucell NV is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on research, development, production and marketing of vaccines, proteins and antibodies that prevent and treat infectious diseases.

Talecris Biotherapeutics is a global biotherapeutic and biotechnology company that discovers, develops and produces critical care treatments for people with life-threatening disorders in a variety of therapeutic areas including immunology, pulmonology, and haemostasis.