AsianScientist (Mar. 25, 2014) – Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, has entered a long-term strategic cooperation with South Korea’s SK Chemicals Co. to co-develop an innovative pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). This agreement will enable Sanofi Pasteur to access the global PCV market of US$4 billion.
The collaboration agreement includes R&D, production, and commercialization of a preventative pneumococcal disease vaccine. As part of the agreement, Sanofi will make an up-front payment of US$23 million to SK Chemicals Co.
Both companies will co-invest in the development of the PCV vaccine project and, if successful, SK Chemicals would produce the innovative vaccine at its production facility located in An-dong, the southern part of Korea. The product, once registered, would be launched globally by Sanofi Pasteur with shared profits outside of Korea, where SK would commercialize it with exclusive rights.
“This is an important milestone for SK and for Korea,” stated Mr. In-Serk Lee, CEO of SK Chemicals. “We are proud to partner with Sanofi Pasteur, one of the global leaders of the vaccine industry, to be able to develop and manufacture in Korea a premium vaccine that has the potential to be distributed worldwide.”
According to the WHO, diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) – such as pneumonia, meningitis and febrile bacteremia – constitute a major, global public health problem. It is estimated that about 14.5 million episodes of serious pneumococcal disease occur annually, resulting in about 826,000 deaths in children aged 1-59 months.
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Source: Sanofi Pasteur; Photo: Nathan Reading/Flickr/CC.
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