Sanofi’s billion-dollar clampdown: Largest Aussie university deal sets gold standard in research translation

In a landmark deal for Australian research commercialisation, Sanofi has inked a US$1.15 billion agreement to acquire Vicebio, a biotech company spun out to advance The University of Queensland’s (UQ) Molecular Clamp vaccine technology. The deal includes an additional US$450 million in milestone-based payments tied to development and regulatory progress.

It marks the largest acquisition of a company commercialising intellectual property (IP) developed at an Australian university, setting a new benchmark for research translation.

UQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry AC said “This extraordinary outcome validates 12 years of UQ research, and I pay tribute to the dedicated UQ scientists who invented the patented Molecular Clamp technology.

“Professor Keith Chappell, Professor Daniel Watterson and Emeritus Professor Paul Young have a tremendous passion for research that delivers for the public good and they exemplify what we strive for at UQ. The acquisition is a compelling vote of confidence in the strength of Australian university research to develop innovations that can be translated into life-saving solutions with a world-leader in the vaccine space.”

Vicebio, formed in 2018 by European life sciences fund Medicxi with an €18 million commitment, was created specifically to commercialise UQ’s patented Molecular Clamp technology, which is designed to accelerate the development of vaccines against life-threatening respiratory viruses.

The technology first came into the global spotlight in early 2020, when the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) tapped UQ to develop a potential COVID-19 vaccine. That partnership stemmed from a 2019 agreement between CEPI and UQ to develop a rapid response vaccine platform to combat emerging infectious diseases.

Professor Keith Chappell, one of the co-inventors, said “A key advantage of the Molecular Clamp platform is that it streamlines vaccine development across different viral families. This is incredibly important for outbreak responses but facilitates the efficient development of multi-pathogen vaccines that we believe will protect vulnerable populations against common viruses that cause severe respiratory diseases.

“Of course, we will never forget the outpouring of support and the funding from Australian and Queensland governments and donors during the pandemic that enabled us to rapidly develop a vaccine candidate and to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial in Australia.”

UQ, through its commercialisation arm UniQuest, holds equity in Vicebio and played a critical role in licensing the Molecular Clamp technology.

“These companies have gone on to raise more than AUD$1 billion to take UQ technology to market and grossed more than AUD$86 billion in product sales,” Professor Terry said.

Among the most notable UQ commercialisation success stories are the globally distributed cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil, and biotech companies Spinifex Pharmaceuticals and Inflazome.

“This [Sanofi] deal highlights the strength of the Australian innovation ecosystem and the world-class research emerging from our universities,” stated Professor Terry.

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