US$1m milestone payment for BioDiem

Melbourne-based flu vaccine company BioDiem (ASX:BDM) has received a payment of US$1 million (AUD$1.35 million) from Akzo Nobel's Nobilon, bringing its total milestone payments to US$3 million.

The payment marks the anniversary of signing a licensing agreement granting Nobilon the majority of rights to BioDiem's novel intranasal influenza vaccine.

"It's great to receive this milestone payment -- we have now earned US$3 million," said BioDiem CEO Tom Williams. "This will help fund other developments for the company including the combined phase I/II clinical trial for BDM-E, a peptide aimed at treating retinal eye disease such as diabetic retinopathy, which is planned for early next year."

The licensing agreement, which includes a further US$5 million in development milestone payments and royalties once the product is on sale, grants global manufacturing rights and marketing rights in Europe and the rest of the world (excluding North America). BioDiem retains the right to license out the sales and marketing rights to North America and the Japanese rights are to be shared according to a future agreement.

Nobilon is in preclinical development of the influenza vaccine, which is to be manufactured in cell culture.

"Cell culture offers rapid scale-up and efficiency advantages over the more traditional egg based production methods and the US government has nominated production in cell culture as the preferred 'next generation' method of manufacturing flu vaccines. BioDiem's nasal spray vaccine offers broader protection against different strains of influenza and is being developed both as an annual epidemic vaccine and as a pandemic vaccine against strains such as H5N1" he said.

The clinical program for the vaccine is scheduled to start in the European 2007/2008 flu season and includes safety and efficacy testing in healthy adults, children, elderly and special risk groups such as patients suffering from diabetes, COPD, chronic heart disease and asthma.

Williams presented at today's Citigroup Medtech and Biotech Bullring 'What's brewing in your nose???' in Sydney.