BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Celltech sells Medeva Vaccines

September 7, 2000 7:00 AM UTC

Drug delivery company PowderJect (LSE:PJP) will acquire from Celltech (LSE:CCH; CLL) its Medeva Vaccines business unit for 30 million ($43.9 million) in cash and 25 million ($36.6 million) worth of PJP convertible loan notes. CCH acquired the vaccines unit through its 1999 purchase of Medeva (see BioCentury, Nov. 15, 1999),and rumors had estimated the sale price of the unit at 40 million following confirmation last month that CCH and PJP were in talks regarding the vaccines business (see BioCentury, Aug. 28).

PJP said that Medeva's Fluvirin influenza vaccine was the primary driver for the acquisition, and that PJP will use its delivery technology to develop a dry powder formulation of the product. The deal provides PJP with several marketed products in addition to Fluvirin, including Arilvax yellow fever vaccine, Hepacare recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and Clostet tetanus vaccine. Arilvax is partnered with Peptide (LSE:PTE), which has U.S. marketing rights to the product. ...