Avanir and VaxGen form alliance

Avanir Pharmaceuticals and VaxGen have entered into a cross-license and research collaboration agreement for the development and manufacture of pre-clinical supplies of Avanir's monoclonal antibody candidate for prevention and treatment of anthrax infection.

The collaboration will combine Avanir's proprietary expertise to discover, characterise and develop highly potent anthrax antibodies with VaxGen's cGMP protein manufacturing capability and experience gained through its anthrax vaccine development program.

The companies have already initiated some of the preliminary steps of the research collaboration, including early characterisation of the selected antibody, preliminary non-GMP production, and the submission of a grant application under a request from the Department of Health and Human Services. This grant application requests funding to complete the development process required prior to submitting an investigation new drug application (IND) to the FDA.

VaxGen will support development and manufacturing of Avanir's anthrax antibody utilising its r&d and biologics manufacturing facilities in South San Francisco. VaxGen will also have mammalian-cell-culture manufacturing capacity for large-scale monoclonal antibody production, through its joint venture, Celltrion.

'As a result of our established programs in anthrax vaccines and mammalian-cell-culture manufacturing, we have been studying anthrax monoclonal antibodies closely for some time, and we think Avanir's skills and technology make them the ideal partner,' said Piers Whitehead, VaxGen's vice president of corporate and business development. 'Together, we have the capabilities and assets to take the product all the way through to commercial availability, including large-scale production at Celltrion.'