Sanofi Pasteur and Immune Design Collaborate to Develop Herpes Simplex Virus Therapy

Immune Design, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, has entered into a broad collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi, to develop an immune therapy for herpes simplex virus (HSV). Sanofi Pasteur will contribute HSV-529, a clinical-stage replication-defective HSV vaccine product candidate, and Immune Design will contribute G103, its preclinical trivalent vaccine product candidate. The collaboration will explore the potential of various combinations of agents to select the best potential immune therapy for patients.

The two companies will develop the products jointly through Phase II clinical trials. Sanofi Pasteur will continue development and commercialize the most promising candidate. Sanofi Pasteur will bear the costs of all preclinical and clinical development, with Immune Design providing a specific formulation of glucopyranosyl lipid adjuvant (GLA) from the GLAAS platform at its cost through Phase II studies. Immune Design will receive future milestone and royalty payments on any product developed from the collaboration.

"Instead of being limited to a single approach, the companies are joining forces and combining multiple cutting-edge technologies with the goal to develop the most effective and safe immunotherapy to address HSV infection, a significant unmet medical need," said Carlos Paya, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Immune Design in a press release. "With other clinical and preclinical GLAAS-based product candidates in development, both with partners and internally at Immune Design, I believe this new collaboration continues to demonstrate the productivity and broad applicability of this platform."