26 July 2011 - Beijing - Aeras, a member of the Stop TB Partnership's Working Group on New TB Vaccines, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the China National Biotech Group (CNBG). The MOU states that the organizations will pursue opportunities to jointly develop tuberculosis (TB) vaccines in China and potentially other parts of the world.
"Aeras is excited to expand our relationship with CNBG," said Jim Connolly, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeras. "The synergy created by bringing together CNBG's considerable infrastructure and manufacturing expertise with Aeras' promising TB vaccine pipeline, as well as our clinical and technical expertise, will significantly enhance the likelihood of a new TB vaccine being developed quickly and efficiently."
Proposed areas for collaboration between Aeras and CNBG include pre-clinical development, process development and manufacturing and clinical development.
"At CNBG, we recognize the urgent need to combat TB and other infectious diseases in both China and around the world," said Xiaoming Yang, President of CNBG. "This new collaboration will bring more opportunities to both organizations in pursuing greater innovation and building increased technical capacity for vaccine development."
Aeras is a non-profit product development organization dedicated to the development of TB vaccines. CNBG is a state-owned enterprise belonging to China's National Pharmaceutical Corporation (Sinopharm).