Valneva and PaxVax link up for travel vaccines marketing

French biotech firm Valneva, a leading pure-play vaccine company, and privately-held California, USA-based specialty vaccine firm PaxVax have entered into a marketing and distribution agreement for their respective travel vaccines, Dukoral and Vivotif. Shares of Valneva rose 2.5% to 4.06 euros by midday trading.

Under the terms of the agreement, financial terms of which were not disclosed, Valneva will distribute and promote PaxVax’s typhoid vaccine Vivotifin Canada and the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland), while PaxVax will distribute and promote Valneva’s cholera vaccine Dukoral in Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Valneva and PaxVax have established sales and marketing teams with broad experience in the travel vaccine industry. Valneva took over one of Sweden’s leading vaccine distributors, SBL Vaccin Distribution, through the acquisition of Dukoral from Crucell earlier this year (The Pharma Letter January 7), while PaxVax has established legal commercial infrastructure in Italy and Spain since its acquisition of Vivotif last year (TPL July 29, 2014). Valneva also opened a fully-owned commercial infrastructure in Canada where the Dukoral vaccine is already widely distributed.