Sanofi and Sutro Biopharma have agreed a deal to develop two vaccines for as-yet undisclosed targets.
The collaboration will grant Sanofi’s vaccines division Sanofi Pasteur access to Sutro’s cell-free protein synthesis technology to research protein-based vaccines.
Specifics terms of the deal were not divulged, although Sutro’s current research efforts mainly involve therapeutics in the field of oncology, including the development of antibody-drug conjugates.
Sanofi Pasteur’s vaccines currently cover 20 infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, cholera, influenza and hepatitis, and it is currently investigating a product to protect against the dengue virus.
“This collaboration highlights the potential value of Sutro’s biochemical synthesis technology for the production of vaccines and provides additional validation of the benefits of our technology platform,” said William Newell, CEO of San Francisco-based Sutro.
“We are looking forward to expanding our expertise in protein expression into the field of vaccines with an established leader in the area.”
The deal is the second major collaboration Sutro has agreed in recent months following an agreement with Celgene that could be worth up to $500m to develop novel antibody-drug conjugates bispecific antibodies for two undisclosed targets
Both deals followed two major research appointments made by the company in October, 2012.
Dr Jeremy Bender joined from Allos as chief business officer, while Dr Aaron Sato joined from OncoMed Pharmaceuticals as VP, research.
Both have significant experience in leading partnerships between businesses, and they appear to have influenced Sutro’s recent collaborations.
At the time, the company’s CEO William Newell said: “These appointments reflect an important step in the growth of our company as we continue to advance our novel, cell-free approach to designing, developing and manufacturing next-generation cancer therapeutics.”