ILiAD Biotechnologies signs whooping cough agreement with French organisations

US biotech ILiAD Biotechnologies has signed scientific collaboration and worldwide licensing agreements for live attenuated Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine technology with leading French organisations.

No financial details have been released.

ILiAD signed the agreement with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) subsidiary, Inserm Transfert SA, and Institut Pasteur de Lille (IPL) for the vaccine technology, including BPZE1, developed by the laboratory of Professor Camille Locht. This licensing agreement covers patent rights from Institut Pasteur de Lille, Inserm, National University of Singapore and National University of Ireland Maynooth.

The agreement follows publication in the journal PLOS One, which suggests that BPZE1 is safe in healthy adults and can induce immune responses targeting Bordetella pertussis. ILiAD, Inserm and IPL now intend to optimise and advance the BPZE technology in preparation for future clinical studies.

Locht said: 'Pertussis remains one of the major vaccine-preventable diseases worldwide, despite large global vaccination coverage. This illustrates the shortcomings of current vaccines and highlights the need to develop a totally different vaccine.'

He added: 'We have now provided proof of concept that a live attenuated nasal vaccine may be an attractive approach towards eradicating this disease. We are confident that this collaboration will have a major impact on this important public health issue.'

Keith Rubin, CEO of ILiAD Biotechnologies, said: 'Global eradication of pertussis is the primary objective of ILiAD Biotechnologies. Given the devastating impact of pertussis and the suboptimal performance of current pertussis vaccines, we believe the vaccine technology developed in Professor Locht’s laboratory holds enormous potential to prevent disease and save lives.'