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Novartis Licenses MedImmune's Reverse Genetics IP to Develop Flu Vaccine Strains

Aug 24, 2007
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — MedImmune yesterday said it has licensed its reverse genetics intellectual property to Novartis to help the drug maker develop new influenza vaccine strains.
 
Terms of the deal call for MedImmune to receive an upfront payment from Novartis, as well as the potential to receive royalties on certain vaccine stockpiles or sales of other influenza products developed using the reverse genetics technology.
 
Reverse genetics uses segments of viral DNA to create viruses. The method could be particularly useful when working with prospective pandemic flu vaccines because it obviates the need to work directly with potentially highly infectious strains of the virus, according to MedImmune.

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