Nykode Therapeutics (formerly Vaccibody) has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Regeneron for the discovery, development and commercialisation of potential new vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases.
What is the structure of the agreement?
The agreement includes five programmes, three within cancer and two within infectious diseases. Each of these may include several vaccine candidates, all of which being eligible for milestone and royalty payments. The vaccines will combine Regeneron’s antigen selection expertise and VelociSuite in vivo models with Nykode Therapeutics’ modular vaccine platform and expertise in vaccine design.
Responsibilities
Nykode Therapeutics will be responsible for vaccine generation and characterisation, as well as product supply through the end of Phase I trials. Regeneron will be responsible for antigen identification, preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing (from the end of Phase I trials) and commercialisation.
Official comments
Michael Engsig, CEO of Nykode Therapeutics, said: “We are very pleased to have entered into this groundbreaking agreement with Regeneron that may accelerate the expansion of our pipeline and fully leverage our unique and modular vaccine technology platform within multiple, large and commercially significant disease areas, in line with our corporate strategy. The agreement further validates Nykode Therapeutics’ position as a leading next-generation immunotherapy platform company. We are thrilled about the choice of programmes and their therapeutic potential within cancer, and prophylactic and therapeutic potential within infectious diseases.”
Agnete Fredriksen, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer of Nykode Therapeutics, continued: “Regeneron has generated unique know how in selecting and validating immunogenic antigens from extensive analysis of patient material. These can now be incorporated into our vaccine platform to deliver the antigens directly to antigen presenting cells and optimise the likelihood of inducing strong and broad clinically relevant immune responses. Regeneron has also developed a unique suite of proprietary VelociSuite technologies and in vivo models that can accelerate and improve the traditional drug development process, and they will use their deep clinical expertise to guide development of these novel vaccines. Therefore, Regeneron will be a tremendous partner as we work to bring multiple additional vaccines based on our technology platform to patients in the fastest and broadest manner and complement the expansion and acceleration of internal programmes.”
Name change
Nykode Therapeutics was previously known as Vaccibody, a name change which was announced November 23, 2021. The company reportedly changes its name to reflect its development and mark a milestone in its journey of growth and transformation.
Nykode translates as ‘new code’, and the new name is said to be inspired by its Norwegian roots and links to the platform’s modularity.
