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The University of Queensland (UQ) is hailing the acquisition of biotech company Vicebio by French pharma giant Sanofi for up to US$1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) as the largest-ever deal involving a company that is commercialising intellectual property (IP) from an Australian university.
Molecular Clamp technology, developed at the UQ to create next-generation vaccines for respiratory viruses, is a central feature of Vicebio which is currently running a Phase 1 clinical trial for a bivalent vaccine targeting both RSV and hMPV viruses.
Vicebio is headquartered in the UK, but UQ is a shareholder through direct investment and the licensing of the vaccine platform technology for commercialisation by UniQuest, its wholly owned commercialisation company.
Shareholders will receive an upfront payment of US$1.15 billion as well as development and regulatory milestones payments of US$450 million.
UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry AC says the acquisition represents an opportunity for the technology to be accelerated through the final stages of translation into a vaccine to address global health challenges.
“This extraordinary outcome validates 12 years of UQ research, and I pay tribute to the dedicated UQ scientists who invented the patented Molecular Clamp technology," says Terry.
"The acquisition is a compelling vote of confidence in the strength of Australian university research to develop innovations that can be translated into life-saving solutions with a world-leader in the vaccine space."
Invented by Professor Keith Chappell, Professor Daniel Watterson and Emeritus Professor Paul Young, the Molecular Clamp technology gained worldwide attention in early 2020 when the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) asked UQ to develop a potential vaccine for COVID-19.
Chappell says he is proud of the quality of the research conducted by the team at UQ and the strong partnership forged with Vicebio, highlighting that as a researcher the "aim is always to make a difference".
“A key advantage of the Molecular Clamp platform is that it streamlines vaccine development across different viral families,” Chappell says.
“This is incredibly important for outbreak responses but facilitates the efficient development of multi-pathogen vaccines that we believe will protect vulnerable populations against common viruses that cause severe respiratory diseases.
“Of course, we will never forget the outpouring of support and the funding from Australian and Queensland governments and donors during the pandemic that enabled us to rapidly develop a vaccine candidate and to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial in Australia."
Terry says that through UniQuest, UQ has become a leader in university commercialisation in Australasia, demonstrated by the granting of more than 360 US patents and the creation of over 130 startup companies using UQ IP.
"These companies have gone on to raise more than AUD$1 billion to take UQ technology to market and grossed more than AUD$86 billion in product sales," she says.
They include the licensing of the UQ-invented cervical cancer vaccine GARDASIL, and more recently Spinifex Pharmaceuticals and Inflazome, another two of the largest university startup acquisitions in Australian history.
Terry says UQ’s model of commercialisation, centred around the dedicated commercial professionals in UniQuest, was a key ingredient in this long-term success.
"This deal highlights the strength of the Australian innovation ecosystem and the world-class research emerging from our universities," she adds.
Vicebio was created by Medicxi, a European life sciences investment fund with an €18M commitment.
"Our aim in creating Vicebio was to back a clear product vision to develop a best-in-class vaccine against respiratory viruses," says Vicebio chairman and Medicxi partner Dr Giovanni Mariggi.
"These vaccines have the potential to protect millions of patients from life-threatening viral infections and we are thrilled to partner with Sanofi to accelerate their development. We look forward to working with Sanofi and combining our innovative technology with Sanofi’s global clinical development capability.
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