Leiden, The Netherlands, January 10, 2002 - Dutch antibody and vaccine company Crucell (NASDAQ, Euronext: CRXL) today announced that it entered into a license agreement with San Diego-based Molecular Medicine, LLC to offer manufacturing services for clinical grade materials on Crucell's proprietary PER.C6 technology in the US.

Under the terms of the agreement, Crucell will receive upfront and annual payments, as well as double-digit royalties on sales. Further financial details were not disclosed.

"This deal will meet the increasing need of the market for PER.C6 manufacturing services for vaccine and gene therapy products" said Crucell's CEO Dinko Valerio. "Moreover, it paves the way for US corporate and academic institutions to get easy access to PER.C6-manufactured materials for clinical trials."
The deal strengthens the position of PER.C6 as the industry standard for the production of vaccine and gene therapy products.

Crucell's eighteen PER.C6 licensees include major pharmaceutical firms, such as Merck & Co for its experimental HIV vaccine program. Multiple vaccine and gene therapy clinical trials with PER.C6 manufactured materials are ongoing in Europe and in the US.

Molecular Medicine is a contract manufacturing and clinical services organization, serving clients in the viral and cell therapy and vaccine sectors. Molecular Medicine is one of the top U.S. providers of manufacturing capacity and critical support services for viral-based therapeutics in Clinical Trials.

 

About Crucell

Dutch biotechnology company Crucell discovers and develops novel antibodies and vaccines against cancer, inflammatory disease and infectious disease.
Crucell discovers novel disease targets and develops fully human antibodies against them. Commercialisation takes place by pharmaceutical firms in return for upfront payments, milestones and royalties. Crucell's anti-CD 46 antibody against multiple myeloma, breast cancer, and colon cancer is being co-developed with Centocor, a Johnson&Johnson company.

Crucell is currently developing antibodies against colon cancer, breast cancer, anti-angiogenesis, leukaemia and inflammation and has additional programs in oncology, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Crucell will leverage its proprietary MAbstract technology to discover two new targets and antibodies every single year.

Crucell also plays an essential role in the development of Merck's HIV vaccine. Merck has obtained the exclusive rights to use Crucell's PER.C6 human cell system for the production of the vaccine's key adenoviral vector. Merck is currently conducting Phase I/II trials with its vaccine.

The company has furthermore developed revolutionary new flu vaccine production system, based on its patented human cell system PER.C6. PER.C6 is already the industry standard for the production of gene therapy products and viral vectors.

 

 

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