NEW YORK, July 26 - French genomics company Genset said today it has granted to Ricerca Biosciences an exclusive worldwide license to its chlamydia genome sequence.
The deal gives Ricerca the right to develop therapeutic products with Genset's full-length sequences of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Chlamydia trachomatis. Ricerca also will own rights to all anti-infective drugs that may arise.
In return, Genset will receive an undisclosed equity position in Ricerca along with patents, milestones, and royalties from any drugs and candidates developed by Ricerca.
Genset has already licensed to Wyeth the vaccine rights for its Chlamydia IP, but said that it is holding on to the diagnostic rights until it finds a "suitable partner."
Last month, Genset said that it was to be acquired by Swiss biotech Serono. The acquisition will be put before a Serono shareholder meeting in September.
Meanwhile, Ricerca, of Concord, Ohio, said it is "actively" licensing a portfolio of new anti-infective and oncologic genomic targets and lead candidate molecules for internal drug development.
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