Acambis Joins Forces With Sanofi Pasteur to Develop West Nile Vir...( CAMBRIDGE England and CAMBRIDGE M...),Health

CAMBRIDGE, England and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, November 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

- No Human Vaccine Currently Exists Against the West Nile Virus, Which has Caused 3,265 Cases and 92 Deaths in the US so far in 2007; Collaboration Aims to Bring Leading West Nile Virus Vaccine Candidate to Market as Rapidly as Possible

Acambis plc (Acambis) (LSE: ACM), a leading vaccine development company, announced today that it has signed an exclusive global collaboration agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, for the development and marketing of Acambis' ChimeriVax(TM)-West Nile vaccine, which is the leading West Nile vaccine in development.

"Since 1999 when it was first detected in the US, the West Nile virus has spread across the entire continental United States, causing 27,240 cases and 1,054 deaths," commented Ian Garland, Chief Executive Officer of Acambis. "Vaccination is the ideal approach to tackling this disease and, through this unique collaboration, we aim to bring this vaccine to market as rapidly as possible."

"Providing a vaccine against West Nile disease may now be within reach. This vaccine candidate is the most promising in the industry and would help meet a growing public health need," said Wayne Pisano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanofi Pasteur.

Acambis started developing a West Nile vaccine in 1999, shortly after the virus was first identified in the US. Under the terms of the agreement, Acambis will continue to perform ChimeriVax(TM)-West Nile development activities, up to and including the filing of a license application in the US.

Acambis will receive an upfront payment of $10m in 2007 from Sanofi Pasteur, and would be eligible for pre- and post-marketing milestone payments of up to $70m based on product approval and sales in the US market. It would also be entitled to receive development funding and royalties on net sales of the vaccine. In addition, if the
'/>"/>