Sanofi Pasteur enters licensing agreement with Syntiron

ARDEE, Ireland Sanofi Pasteur has entered a licensing agreement for a vaccine to prevent Staphylococcus bacterial infections, the vaccine maker announced Wednesday.

Sanofi Pasteur obtained the license from St. Paul, Minn.-based biotech company Syntiron to develop and commercialize the vaccine, which also protects against the dangerous methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas, or MRSA. MRSA causes a large number of difficult-to-treat infections in people due to its resistance to most antibiotics.

Under the agreement, Sanofi Pasteur will support preclinical development with Syntiron and be responsible for future development, regulatory approval and commercialization. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“The agreement with Syntiron is just another example of Sanofi Pasteur’s interest in partnering with biotechs to produce innovative vaccines to address public health needs,” Sanofi Pasteur president and CEO Wayne Pisano said. “Along with our development of a vaccine to prevent Clostridium difficile infection, the successful development of a vaccine to prevent MRSA would be a major achievement in combating hospital-associated infections.”