{1} And Biocon</b> To Co-Develop Antibody Pr

ROCHESTER, N.Y. and BANGALORE, India, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Vaccinex, Inc. and Biocon Limited today announced a broad strategic partnership to discover and co-develop at least four therapeutic antibody products. The collaboration combines Vaccinex's unique capabilities to discover fully human monoclonal antibodies using its proprietary antibody discovery technology and Biocon's proven expertise in clinical research and biologics manufacturing. The parties will jointly identify promising antibody candidates and move them rapidly into clinical development, focusing on antibodies directed to cancer, inflammation and autoimmune disease. As part of the collaboration, Biocon will also make an equity investment in Vaccinex.

Announcing the partnership, Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited said, "We are delighted to announce this partnership as Vaccinex has a strong discovery-led platform that will be beneficial to Biocon. This partnership further reiterates Biocon's commitment to providing biotechnology solutions to worldwide disease populations."

Maurice Zauderer, Ph.D., President and CEO of Vaccinex, stated, "We are very pleased to enter into this partnership with Biocon, the leading biotechnology company in India. By combining our respective skills and knowledge, this collaboration will allow us to accelerate introduction of new, high value therapeutic antibody products in both India and Western markets."

Vaccinex also accepted the nomination of Dr. Bala Manian, the eminent California scientist entrepreneur, as Biocon's nominee to the Vaccinex Board of Directors. This will take effect once regulatory procedures are completed.

Biocon is India's premier biotechnology company employing over 1,400 people including more than 600 highly qualified scientists at its campus in Bangalore. Together with its subsidiaries, Syngene and Clinigene, Biocon is a fully integrated biotechnology enterprise with global scale capabilities in biopharmaceuticals and successful initiatives in drug discovery, clinical development, bioprocessing and global marketing. Biocon develops products and solutions to partners and customers across the globe. (For additional information visit http://www.biocon.com/)

Vaccinex is a privately held biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic antibodies. Using its proprietary vaccinia vector technology, Vaccinex has developed the only library-based antibody discovery platform capable of directly expressing bivalent, fully human antibodies in mammalian cells. This technology offers the potential to directly generate fully functional antibodies against difficult targets such as homologous proteins and multi-pass membrane receptors. (For additional information visit http://www.vaccinex.com/)

Vaccinex, Inc.