Vaxxel acquires Transgene's DuckCelt®-T17 cell line to develop industrial-scale vaccines against respiratory viruses

Vaxxel SAS, a French start-up, developing vaccines against respiratory viral infections, announces the acquisition of Transgene’s proprietary DuckCelt®-T17 cell line. The terms of the agreement are confidential. Through this agreement, Transgene becomes a shareholder of Vaxxel. DuckCelt®-T17, initially developed and patented by Transgene, is an avian cell line grown in suspension. It is permissive to a variety of viruses, including Influenza viruses and human Metapneumoviruses. The cell line has a demonstrated capability to be used at industrial scale.

“We are very pleased with the closure of this agreement.  It will allow us to continue developing our vaccines against respiratory viruses namely a monovalent vaccine against human Metapneumovirus and a bivalent one against Respiratory Syncytial Virus and human Metapneumovirus. These vaccines would respond to a large unmet public health need worldwide. Both of these viruses are a major source of pneumonia and bronchiolitis for children under 5 years old and for adults above 65 years old. Based on current sales of a vaccine targeting the same population, the market potential for our vaccines exceeds 5 billion euros,” said Denis Cavert, President of Vaxxel SAS. “We are also proud to welcome Transgene among our shareholders. This will allow Vaxxel to benefit from their experience in scaling up and developing new biological products.”

“We are glad to valorize an asset such as our DuckCelt®-T17 cell line with Vaxxel’s high potential projects. This operation materializes a substantial research work undertaken several years ago in order to select an avian line suitable for viral production at an industrial scale. This transfer demonstrated the large field of application of our technologies, aside from immuno-oncology,” added Eric Quéméneur, Pharm. D., Ph. D, Executive VP and Chief Scientific Officer of Transgene.