LYON, France I February 24, 2014 I European biotechnology company Valneva SE (Valneva) today announced the initiation of a fourth monoclonal antibody discovery program for Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi (Euronext: SAN and NYSE: SNY), on its proprietary single-cell screening platform VivaScreen®.

The initiation of this fourth antibody program is part of the agreement signed with Sanofi Pasteur in June 2010, granting Sanofi Pasteur and its affiliates exclusive access to Valneva’s VivaScreen® technology for the discovery of several human monoclonal antibodies targeting significant infectious diseases.  Sanofi Pasteur is the largest company entirely dedicated to vaccines. Every day, the company invests more than EUR 1 million in research and development.

Sanofi Pasteur will obtain worldwide exclusive development and commercialization rights for the discovered antibodies while Valneva may receive development milestone payments up to EUR 35 million per infectious disease, as well as royalty payments associated with product sales. In addition, Sanofi Pasteur finances collaborative research activities.

Thomas Lingelbach, President and Chief Executive Officer and Franck Grimaud, President and Chief Business Officer of Valneva, commented, “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Sanofi and look forward to future results achieved with the VivaScreen® technology in the company’s development of products to treat infectious diseases”.

SOURCE: Valneva