Licence deal with Japan's Eisai will give Sanofi improved vaccine efficacy

A contract to license the E6020 vaccine adjuvant being developed at the Japanese company's Eisai's Boston laboratory, has been agreed between parent Eisai and the French vaccine developer Sanofi Pasteur. The adjuvant is expected to assist Sanofi to increase the efficacy of its vaccines.

Under the contract, Eisai will receive royalties in proportion to the progress of the vaccine's development, in addition to an initial fee.

The E6020 adjuvant activates a response by the immune system to a vaccine through a receptor that provides critical links between immune stimulants, which are produced by micro-organisms, and the initiation of host defences.