CRUCELL GRANTED $5 MILLION TO FURTHER DEVELOP TB VACCINE

Dutch biotech company Crucell announced it will receive up to $5 million from the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to develop its AdVac-based tuberculosis (TB) vaccine.

Aeras is a nonprofit organization primarily funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, but it also receives support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Danish International Development Agency.

Aeras and Crucell entered into a collaborative agreement in 2004 for the development of TB vaccines based on Crucell's PER.C6 and AdVac technology. The candidate vaccine entered a Phase I clinical trial in October 2006.

AdVac supports the practice of inserting genetic material from the disease-causing virus or parasite into a vehicle called a vector, which then delivers the immunogenic material directly to the immune system. Most vectors are based on an adenovirus, such as the virus that causes the common cold, according to Crucell. But AdVac is based on adenovirus vectors that do not regularly occur in the human population.

"This technology, which is based on one of the most advanced vector delivery systems for induction of cellular immunity, represents an important part of the portfolio of vaccines we are developing against tuberculosis," Jerald Sadoff, president and CEO of Aeras, said.

All vaccine candidates based on AdVac are produced using Crucell's PER.C6 technology. PER.C6 is a cell line Crucell developed for the large-scale manufacture of biopharmaceutical products, including vaccines.