Talking with ‘handful’ of big firms on lung cancer vaccine
February 24th, 2009
French biotech firm Transgene has narrowed down the search for a partner for its key experimental lung cancer vaccine to fewer than five big drug companies, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
“We have been talking to many, but at this stage we have less than this (five) … it’s a handful,” Philippe Archinard told Reuters during a visit to London.
“We feel comfortable that we should be able to strike this partnership by mid-(2009).”
Transgene needs a partner to help pay for a 70 million euro ($90 million) final-stage Phase III clinical study, involving 1,000 to 1,200 patients, and to provide marketing muscle to sell the treatment, assuming it is finally approved.