Crozet BioPharma, LLC (Crozet) announced today a $10.8 million total value partnering agreement with Public Health Vaccines, LLC (PHV) to advance the development and manufacture of a vaccine against the Nipah virus, listed as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization.1
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has granted PHV funding to support pre-clinical development, manufacturing, clinical advancement through Phase 2, and establishment of an investigational stockpile of the vaccine candidate worth up to $43.6 million.2 PHV, a Cambridge-based biotechnology firm, has partnered with Crozet to provide core technical and strategic development services to the program.
Crozet, in collaboration with PHV, will engage its expert team of vaccine developers and manage a coalition of partners to develop the rVSV-Nipah vaccine. This includes design and oversight of critical technical elements of the development program including manufacturing and quality control of the vaccine, nonclinical safety and efficacy studies, tests for measuring immune responses, and Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.
Dr. Thomas Monath, Managing Partner and Chief Scientific Officer at Crozet Biopharma said: "The Crozet team spent several years developing the successful rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine. That expertise will greatly facilitate advancement of the rVSV-Nipah vaccine. We look forward to our partnership with PHV, support from CEPI, and the opportunity to work with an extraordinary coalition of experts to develop a rVSV-Nipah vaccine candidate."
The vaccine candidate was developed by Dr. Heinz Feldmann within the Laboratory of Virology, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and has been licensed to PHV by NIAID. The recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) vaccine candidate expressing a type of Nipah-virus protein (known as glycoprotein G) is designed to induce protection against the virus after a single dose.
Nipah virus, a bat-borne virus, can spread to humans and cause brain inflammation and pneumonia with a high mortality. Epidemics of the disease have emerged during the last 20 years in India, Southeast Asia and the western Pacific.
Dr. D. Gray Heppner, Crozet's Chief Medical Officer said: "Nipah virus infection causes a dreadful disease for which there is no treatment. The Crozet team believes all people at risk of Nipah disease deserve the protection of a safe, effective vaccine."
About Crozet BioPharma
Crozet BioPharma, LLC, headquartered in Devens, Massachusetts, is a biotechnology company developing medical countermeasures for infectious disease and cancer. Crozet's team includes individuals with deep industry experience demonstrated by their collective track record and experience developing ten licensed vaccines. While at NewLink Genetics, the Crozet team enabled transfer of the technology to Merck, obtained over $100 million in funding and supported Merck's advanced development of the rVSV-EBOV Ebola vaccine. Most recently, Crozet has partnered with PHV to support delivery of PHV's rVSV-Marburg and rVSV-Nipah vaccine candidates. For more information, visit the company's website at www.crozetbiopharma.com.
About PHV
Public Health Vaccines, LLC. (PHV), headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a privately-held biotechnology company developing vaccines for the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases. For more information, visit the company's website at www.phvaccines.com.
