Immune Design, Sanofi Pasteur to develop herpes simplex virus therapy

As part of the development, Sanofi Pasteur will contribute HSV-529, a clinical-stage replication-defective HSV vaccine product candidate, while Immune Design will provide its preclinical trivalent vaccine product candidate G103.

The deal will explore the potential of various combinations of agents, including leveraging Immune Design’s GLAAS platform, with an aim to select the best potential immune therapy for patients.

These products will be jointly developed through Phase II clinical trials, at which point Sanofi Pasteur intends to continue development of the most promising candidate and be responsible for commercialization.

Under the deal, Sanofi Pasteur will bear the costs of all preclinical and clinical development, with Immune Design offering a specific formulation of GLA from the GLAAS platform at its cost through Phase II trials.

In addition, Immune Design will be eligible to receive future milestone and royalty payments on any product developed from the collaboration.

Immune Design president and chief executive officer Carlos Paya said instead of being limited to a single approach, the companies are joining forces and combining multiple technologies with the goal to develop the most effective and safe immunotherapy to address HSV infection, a significant unmet medical need.

"With other clinical and preclinical GLAAS-based product candidates in development, both with partners and internally at Immune Design, I believe this new collaboration continues to demonstrate the productivity and broad applicability of this platform," Paya said.