Medicago Inc., a Canada- based biotechnology company focused on developing highly effective and affordable vaccines based on proprietary manufacturing technologies and Virus-Like Particles (VLPs), announced on Thursday that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals to negotiate an agreement to develop, produce and commercialize Medicago's influenza VLP-based vaccines in Saudi Arabia and other territories in the Middle East and North Africa. Tabuk is the second largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in Saudi Arabia. Under the terms of the LOI, the parties will collaborate to identify the interest of targeted governments and will select an optimal deal structure with the objective of establishing a commercial partnership within 12 months. “While we continue to aggressively move forward with the development of our influenza vaccine candidates, we continue to seek out commercial opportunities that allow us to exploit our proprietary manufacturing solution,” said Andy Sheldon, president and CEO of Medicago. “Our plant-based manufacturing platform has the potential to improve the speed, capacity and cost of influenza vaccine production and allow governments to effectively enhance their pandemic plans.” “With the recent approval we received to commence human clinical testing with our avian flu pandemic vaccine, we are now in a better position to explore different deal structures and markets to commercialize our vaccine candidates,” said Frederic Ors, VP Business Development of Medicago. “A successful Phase I clinical trial should allow us to formalize our recently executed country agreements and realize the value of our proprietary technology.” “Medicago's novel vaccine technology and rapid response manufacturing solution coupled with Tabuk's strong marketing, sales and distribution network makes for a compelling collaboration,” said Rana Azzam, director, Business Development of Tabuk. Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company is a fully owned subsidiary of Astra Industrial Group- AIG, one of the biggest industrial groups in the Middle East region. Headquartered in Riyadh, with GMP facilities in Tabuk city, the company has strong presence across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and a promising outlook in Western Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the US. Tabuk Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company has also established strong relations with companies from all over the World mainly in the field of in-licensing of unique originator and generic products. __
