SEATTLE, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute) and Immune Design Corp. announced today that they have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Immune Design Corp. is granted a worldwide exclusive license for the research, development, and commercialization of IDRI's Glycopyranosyl Lipid Adjuvant (GLA) technology for products targeting a number of indications. Focusing on its mission to fight infectious diseases of the developing world, IDRI retains worldwide exclusive rights to GLA for selected diseases affecting predominately the developing world. Under the agreement, IDRI will receive an upfront payment, milestones, and royalty payments as well as shares in Immune Design Corp. Further details on the financial terms were not disclosed.
GLA is specifically engineered to improve a vaccine's interaction with the immune system resulting in an enhanced and directed immune response to the vaccine. "We are excited by the promising preclinical results observed so far with GLA," said Chris Clegg, VP Operations and Technology at Immune Design Corp., a Seattle biotech startup focused on novel immunization strategies. "This innovative adjuvant could drive a major shift in the vaccine field."
"We are using GLA in several of IDRI's priority programs but we also think that it has great potential against diseases outside our scope of action," said Curt Malloy, Senior Vice President, Operations and General Counsel, IDRI. "While we retain the necessary rights to pursue our mission against diseases of poverty, revenues generated by this agreement will assist our research and development activities."
As part of its commitment to provide the not-for-profit sector access to its adjuvant technology, IDRI also retains rights to conduct non-commercial research with GLA and will still have the right to provide it to not-for- profit organizations.
Importantly, Immune Design Corp. has adopted a Global Access Plan which addresses accessibility of GLA-containing products the company would develop for diseases of the developing world.
"Creative business agreements with the private sector are critical for the sustainability of our organization but must not be detrimental to the population we are committed to help. We are pleased to sign an agreement with a company that has put in place a Global Access Plan aimed at applying innovation to tackle diseases that disproportionally affect the world's poorest populations," continued Curt Malloy.
About GLA
GLA is a safe and effective vaccine adjuvant formulation that targets a Toll-Like receptor on human dendritic cells, leading to increased and directed immune responses to a vaccine antigen.
About IDRI
IDRI is a Seattle-based not-for-profit organization committed to applying innovative science to the research and development of products to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases of poverty. By integrating capabilities, IDRI strives to create an efficient pathway bringing scientific innovation from the lab to the people who need it most. For more information, go to http://www.idri.org.
About Immune Design Corp.
Immune Design Corp. is Seattle-based vaccine biotech company working to develop innovative vaccine adjuvants and immunization strategies that specifically target dendritic cells, a critical component of the human system in the initiation of antigen specific immune responses. These novel technologies could create an entirely new generation of both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines.
CONTACT: Alice Grasset of IDRI, +1-206-330-2553, agrasset@idri.org
Web site: http://www.idri.org/