Emergex Enters into MoU with Brazil’s Fiocruz to Develop Novel Vaccines Against Viral Diseases

OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (‘Emergex’), a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to synthetic vaccine development in the field of infectious diseases, today announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Brazil-based Oswaldo Cruz Foundation ‘Fiocruz’ for the development of viral vaccines. The MoU initially covers the development of a vaccine that universally targets diseases within the flavivirus family such as Dengue Fever, Zika and Yellow Fever but could be expanded to include the development of vaccines to target other viral families that are endemic to the region.

The MoU consists of three parts. The first part is a Collaboration Agreement under which Fiocruz and Emergex will initially carry out a Phase I clinical trial to demonstrate flavivirus vaccine safety. Thereafter, the two parties expect to carry out further clinical studies to test the vaccine in the field. The second part of the MoU is an ‘umbrella’ R&D agreement under which Emergex and Fiocruz will co-develop vaccines to viruses that are of specific importance to the Brazilian government and are prevalent and endemic in the region. Emergex and Fiocruz will develop vaccines collaboratively to find solutions for various diseases that have not yet been resolved using conventional vaccine approaches. The third part of the MoU covers a vaccine technology transfer agreement for vaccines that will be used within Brazil’s National Health Service.

Emergex’s vaccines are 100% synthetic, multi-component vaccines containing peptides that are highly conserved between viral strains. This means that Emergex can create a “universal” vaccine that is cross-reactive and targets numerous diseases within one viral family. One example of this is Emergex’s universal flavivirus vaccine which is designed to target diseases such as Dengue Fever, Zika and Yellow Fever.

Professor Thomas Rademacher, co-founder, CEO and CSO at Emergex commented: “Fiocruz is recognized as one of the world’s largest public health research institutions. It has a broad range of responsibilities related to the health and wellbeing of the Brazilian population of over 207 million people. The signing of this MoU is a commitment to explore how our organizations can work together to develop new vaccines against major viral threats that occur in the region.”

Marco Krieger, VP Production and Innovation at Fiocruz added: “Fiocruz is committed to researching, developing and manufacturing new vaccines to address Brazil’s most important infectious diseases. This MoU demonstrates our intention to partner with Emergex to develop a new generation of vaccines. We chose Emergex as its technology enables it to develop and manufacture vaccines in less time and at a fraction of the cost of traditional vaccines. Its vaccine components are stable at ambient temperatures, avoiding the need for refrigeration, reducing costs and enabling easy transportation - making it particularly suited to treating diseases in remote parts of the world.”

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Notes to Editors

About Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited
Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited, a UK-based biotechnology company headquartered in Oxford, is pioneering a new approach to vaccine development in order to address some of the world’s most immediate health threats such as Zika, Ebola, pandemic flu and antibiotic resistant bacteria.

It has developed a novel and ground-breaking approach to vaccine manufacturing, reverse engineering the immune system and providing that system with data that alters the viral factory. It utilises 100% synthetic components that have been validated in previous research, to activate T-cells of the immune system to destroy virus-infected human cells. It uses unique technologies together with cleverly crafted scientific capability to develop and manufacture vaccines at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional vaccines, administered practicably for regions that are infrastructurally-challenged in the developing world as well as for the developed world.

Emergex is initially focussed on creating an internationally accessible, clinical grade vaccine repository for use by governments, non-governmental organisations and charities, to act as a first line of defence against existing and newly emerging infectious outbreaks. It also is strategically open to develop commercially marketed vaccines in partnership with pharmaceutical companies to generate future licensing and royalty revenue streams.

Emergex is committed to making a positive impact in the communities that are most affected by these infectious outbreaks, where a lack of affordable and effective treatments adversely impacts health and prosperity. Recently it joined the Social Stock Exchange in London, the world’s first regulated exchange dedicated to businesses and investors seeking to achieve a positive social and environmental impact through their activities.

Find out more online at www.emergexvaccines.com.

About Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, known as Fiocruz)
Inaugurated on May 25, 1900 under the name The Federal SeroTherapy Institute, Fiocruz’s mission was to fight public health problems in Brazil. Since then it has developed and become a leading think tank concerned with Brazilian experimental medicine.

Concepts that have guided Fiocruz’s development include the promotion of health and social development, forging and disseminating scientific and technological knowledge, and promoting the benefits of Brazilian citizenship.

Today, Fiocruz is attached to the Brazilian Ministry of Health and is the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America. It is responsible for a range of activities which include research development; highly-regarded hospital and ambulatory care services; production of vaccines, drugs, reagents, and diagnostic kits; education and training of human resources; information and communication in the area of health, science and technology; quality control of products and services, and the implementation of social programs. It has over 7,500 employees and health professionals.

For more information, please visit the Fiocruz website.

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