Deal bags Flugen a vaccine delivery micro-device
The benefits of the device are claimed to be most pronounced among the over 65s, who are the also more at risk from influenza, with efficacy increasing most among this group and the easy, pain free delivery hoped to improve vaccination rates.
Flugen will now begin preclinical testing of the device using its cell-based trivalent influenza vaccines (TIVs), with the company hoping to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the second half of 2010.
Paul Radspinner, president and CEO of FluGen, said: “This exciting vaccine-delivery technology from Ratio is an important expansion of FluGen’s product pipeline.
“It will allow the company to offer the $6bn (€4.5bn) influenza vaccine market not only superior vaccines, but an easy-to-use, painless delivery technology that increases vaccine effectiveness. FluGen looks forward to advancing this valuable product through our pipeline with one or more TIVs.”
The micro-device is a similar size to a poker chip and contains a miniature fluidic pump that is activated at the press of a button. This sends the vaccine from its reservoir, through a set of microneedles and delivers it intradermally or into the skin.
Unlike traditional delivery techniques the vaccine is not delivered into the muscle and Flugen believes this has the potential to increase the treatments efficacy, which it claims can be as low as 20 per cent with syringe delivery in some patients.
Terms of the license agreement were not disclosed.
