Janssen and Sanofi enter agreement for potential vaccine programme

Betsy Goodfellow | October 5, 2023 | News story | Business Services |  Immunology, Janssen, Sanofi, e coli, vaccines 

Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company, has announced a development and commercialisation agreement with Sanofi for Janssen’s extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) investigational vaccine programme.

The lead vaccine candidate is currently being assessed in the phase 3 E.mbrace study, evaluating the vaccine for the prevention of invasive E. coli disease (IED) in adults over the age of 60.

The agreement is still subject to certain customary closing conditions.

The collaboration is intended to combine the research and development strengths of Janssen with Sanofi’s global commercial vaccine expertise to advance the ExPEC programme.

The two companies will co-fund current and future research and development costs, though Sanofi will pay Janssen an upfront payment of $175m followed by various milestone payments.

Penny Heaton, MD, global therapeutic area head of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines at Janssen Research and Development, commented: “We’re committed to addressing the unmet need for a vaccine to protect against IED, which affects nearly ten million adults each year, has only limited therapeutic options available and can cause life-threatening infections. This agreement will enable us to accelerate the development and potential commercialisation of this important preventive option.”

Betsy Goodfellow