Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. and Neovacs S.A. announced their entry into a joint venture agreement to manufacture and sell conjugated therapeutic vaccines (the "Joint Venture") using Stellar's proprietary Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH).
The purpose of the Joint Venture is to produce Neovacs' Kinoid immunotherapy product candidates, including IFNa-Kinoid, as well as potentially manufacture and sell other KLH-based immunotherapy vaccine products to third party customers worldwide. The formation of the Joint Venture Company is expected to close on or before June 30, 2016.
The Joint Venture Company will be owned initially 70% by Neovacs, with Stellar holding the remaining 30% interest. The Joint Venture will be governed by a three-member board of directors, two of whom will be appointed by Neovacs and one appointed by Stellar.
Neovacs' lead product candidate is IFNa-Kinoid a conjugated vaccine based on IFNa and KLH from Stellar. IFNa-Kinoid is in a multicenter Phase IIb clinical trial in Europe, Asia and Latin America for the treatment of moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). Neovacs recently received FDA permission to extend the Phase IIb clinical trial of IFNa-Kinoid to the United States. The IFNa-Kinoid development program was recently expanded to include Dermatomyositis, an orphan indication in which IFNa plays an important role.
Miguel Sieler, Chief Executive Officer of Neovacs said, "This joint venture with Stellar Biotechnologies is an important alliance because it further strengthens Neovacs' industrial plan. Neovacs has secured funding to move forward on the manufacturing facility and now this joint venture provides access to scalable capacity of KLH which is a key component of our Kinoid technology. These steps will support the manufacturing infrastructure as we progress through clinical trials and to potential market launch of our KLH-Kinoid immunotherapy vaccines."
