Liponova signs MOU for renal cancer vaccine

German biopharmaceutical and vaccines company LipoNova has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development and marketing of its non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) candidate vaccine Reniale with an as yet unnamed non-European pharmaceutical company.

The MoU provides for milestone payments and ongoing royalties on sales of Reniale. LipoNova's partner will win an exclusive licence for marketing the product to a non-European country. The partner will, on conclusion of the agreement, support an international phase III study and be involved in possible 'named patients' programmes.

Liponova's executive board says the MoU is an important step in the development and marketing of Reniale outside Europe. The deal shows that foreign companies are very interested in marketing Reniale and therefore provides further evidence or Reniale's market potential. The company added that it aimed to launch Reniale on other non-European markets.

For H1 2007, Liponova made a loss of EUR 2.3m, compared with a loss of just under EUR 1m in H1 FY06. The increased loss was due to extra consultancy costs incurred in 2007 over preparations for the Reniale phase III study, while the company is still not making any significant sales.