Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N V has signed a cross-licensing agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. In addition to previously licensed rights to PER.C6, the agreement opens the way for Merck to use Crucell technology on an exclusive basis in additional undisclosed vaccine fields.

In return, Crucell receives access to Merck's large scale manufacturing technology for its AdVac-based vaccines.

"This agreement will make it possible to speed up the delivery of our malaria and TB vaccines to the people in need, and makes it realistic to do so on the mass scale required," said Jaap Goudsmit, chief scientific officer at Crucell. "It also opens the way for Crucell to speed up the Ebola programme with the VRC, which has recently entered a phase I clinical trial. But most importantly, it brings the reality of vaccines such as these significantly closer."

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) support Crucell's malaria vaccine programme. The TB vaccine programme is collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. Both programmes are based on Crucell's adenovirus vector technology, AdVac, and are currently in phase 1 clinical trial.

Crucell NV is a biotechnology company focused on research, development and worldwide marketing of vaccines and antibodies that prevent and treat infectious diseases.