Avidis signs animal vaccine technology evaluation agreement

Immunotherapeutics specialist Avidis today announced that it has signed an evaluation agreement in the field of veterinary vaccines with one of the world's leading animal health companies.

The agreement gives the company the right to evaluate Avidis' aXent™ (an adjuvant-free immunization technology) in several therapeutic areas.

The agreement covers the use of aXent™ for a bovine infectious disease with the possibility of acquiring exclusive rights through further license agreements. Novartis Animal Health will use Avidis' aXent™ to immunize without the use of adjuvants, hitherto necessary for administering a vaccine. It has already been shown to be effective with a variety of antigens in several species, using a variety of delivery methods.

"The signing of this agreement is a tangible result of the work our scientists have carried out over the last year," said Avidis Chief Executive Officer, François Miceli. "This agreement with Novartis Animal Health is further confirmation that we have chosen the right strategy and gives us real encouragement to continue in this direction."

"The agreement with Avidis demonstrates our commitment to the evaluation of new technologies which complement our own research and development activities in animal vaccines," said Rolf Steiger, Research Alliances Manager, at Novartis Animal Health.