Nobilon and BioDiem sign influenza vaccine tie-up

Nobilon International, part of Akzo Nobel's Pharma group, has entered into a licensing agreement with Australian pharmaceutical development company BioDiem.

Under the agreement, Nobilon will pay up to US$8m (including milestone payments over the next few years) for exclusive rights to manufacture, market and sell BioDiem's intranasal influenza vaccine worldwide, with the exception of Russia, the CIS countries and North America, where BioDiem retains the rights to market and sell the vaccine. Sales and marketing rights in Japan will be shared, subject to future agreement between BioDiem and Nobilon. Royalties based on sales are payable to BioDiem.

The agreement gives Nobilon access to BioDiem's technological expertise in influenza vaccines and will enable the development of a new generation of flu vaccines based on cell-culture technology that offer a patient-friendly method of administration. The vaccine is not expected on the market until around 2010.

'The BioDiem live attenuated influenza vaccine technology has a number of important features that we can capitalise on to develop a better flu vaccine that will address the need for broader protection against influenza and ensure a more flexible and efficient sup-ply,' said Nobilon director Bram van Dijck.