Delphi Genetics SA (Delphi) has entered into an agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis Group, for the manufacture of biological pharmaceuticals using Delphi's patented StabyExpress technology.

StabyExpress is a new approach to stabilising the genetic machinery required to manufacture proteins, the raw materials at the heart of many modern biopharmaceuticals including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies and therapeutic proteins. Biopharmaceuticals represent a growing proportion of marketed drugs worldwide with 15 per cent of the worldwide pharmaceutical market.

Delphi's StabyExpress technology improves the efficiency of protein manufacture and at a higher quality than alternative approaches.

Moreover, the technology avoids use of antibiotic resistance genes and is therefore in line with recent FDA and EMEA recommendations against the use of antibiotics in manufacturing of proteins for human and veterinary use. Many biological products currently in clinical development and licensed for sale rely on antibiotic resistance genes in the manufacturing process. The use of the StabyExpress avoids any concern regarding the use of antibiotic resistance and offers next generation biological products a more regulatory-consistent manufacturing strategy.

StabyExpress is a proprietary technology developed by Delphi Genetics. Under the agreement Sanofi Pasteur will have the non-exclusive right to use the technology for a range of vaccines it is planning to manufacture. In exchange for the licence, Delphi will receive milestone payments and royalties. No further financial details of the agreement were disclosed.

Philippe Gabant, CEO of Delphi Genetics commented, "We have already applied the StabyExpress in a range of smaller commercial collaborations so we are pleased now that one of the world's largest biologicals manufacturers has also recognized the importance of our technology. We look forward to further transactions of this kind with other large manufacturers of biologicals products. In addition, we have retained exclusive rights to our technology for use in specific named programmes with future strategic partners".

In November 2008, Delphi Genetics announced a collaboration with partner Eurogentec to allow Staby technology to be included in Eurogentec's contract manufacturing offering for biological products.