Devens biotech inks deal for vaccine against brain, lung virus
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Crozet Biopharma is based in this Devens building.
Devens-based Crozet Biopharma has inked a $10.8-million agreement with a Cambridge biotech firm to develop a vaccine to the Nipah virus.
Crozet BioPharma will partner with Public Health Vaccines, LLC (PHV) to advance the development and manufacturing of the vaccine to treat the virus, which is classified as a priority pathogen by the World Health Organization.
Niprah is a virus typically passed from animals to humans -- often by bats -- and can be fatal through a number of causes, including respiratory illness and swelling of the brain.
The project already has $43.6 million in funding from the public-private Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations that will carry the development through Phase 2.
PHV will provide the core technical and strategic development services for the program while Crozet will utilize its expert team of vaccine developers to manage a coalition of partners to develop the vaccine, according to a Monday press release.
Leading Crozet as managing partner and chief scientific officer is Thomas Monath, a 50-year veteran of the viral and disease vaccine industry, including working in leadership positions at U.S. government agencies to help develop vaccines for Ebola, smallpox, the flu and other diseases.
Monath and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dr. Gray Heppner both come from Iowa-based NewLink Genetics, which helped develop an Ebola vaccine in response to Ebola outbreaks in West Africa that began in 2013.
“That expertise will greatly facilitate advancement of the rVSV-Nipah vaccine," Monath said. "We look forward to our partnership with PHV, support from CEPI, and the opportunity to work with an extraordinary coalition of experts to develop a rVSV-Nipah vaccine candidate."
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