Themis, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on immunomodulation therapies for infectious diseases and cancer, and ABL Europe (ABL), a global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) and Contract Research Organization (CRO) a subsidiary of the French bioindustrial group Institut Mérieux, announced that they have signed an agreement under which ABL will manufacture Themis’ vaccine candidate in preparation for clinical trials. The vaccine is being developed using a proprietary measles virus vaccine platform technology, which is licensed exclusively to Themis by the world-renowned Institut Pasteur in Paris.
Dr. Erich Tauber, CEO of Themis commented, “The key elements behind our decision to partner with ABL Europe are our past experience, their viral expertise and consequently the significant advantage of ABL being able to rapidly manufacture supplies to start our clinical trials.”
Themis recently announced that it is underway and actively collaborating with Institut Pasteur, the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to develop a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. CEPI has invested an initial $4.9 million USD for its development. ABL has been chosen by Themis to manufacture clinical trial supplies of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in France.
“It is a privilege to combine forces with Themis in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, ABL is uniquely positioned to use our expertise to accelerate a promising vaccine candidate into the clinic,” added Dr. Patrick Mahieux, Managing Director of ABL Europe.