Transgene has received a sub-award from Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) under its existing grant of $5m from the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to advance its tuberculosis (TB) immunotherapy program.
The TB program is aimed at developing a targeted immunotherapeutic to treat active TB, including resistant TB, using the company's core viral vector technology.
Compared to other elements, the new immunotherapeutics contain a large array of TB proteins expressed during all phases of both active and latent infection.
The company said that an immunotherapy approach provides the potential, especially for patients whose disease has become resistant to treatment, to improve the effectiveness of current antibacterial therapies by correcting the immune system's faulty response to the disease.
Transgene has already created many potential product candidates which are currently being assessed to determine the best candidate to advance into further development.
Under the deal, development and manufacturing of cell line process will be carried out for Transgene's TB development candidate.
The collaboration is for cell line process development and manufacturing for Transgene's TB development candidate.
Transgene chairman and CEO Philippe Archinard said there is an urgent need for new treatments for tuberculosis, which remains an acute problem in emerging countries and is rapidly reappearing in parts of the developed world, notably Europe.
"The NIAID funding, as well as the collaboration with Emergent BioSolutions, should accelerate Transgene's TB immunotherapy development program, which seeks to help address this major medical need," Archinard said.
