3M Drug Delivery in deal with IDRI

Minnesota, USA-based 3M Drug Delivery Systems has announced the signing of a non-exclusive license agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute in support of vaccine research for humanitarian efforts in developing countries. Under the deal, 3M will donate its patented toll-like receptor immune response modifier compounds. 3M's TLR compounds, which may be useful as vaccine adjuvants, will be used by IDRI to research new vaccines. Vaccine adjuvants are known to help boost the effectiveness of a vaccine.

"IDRI's vaccine platform has the potential to prevent and treat a number of important diseases in the developing world. By providing our vaccine adjuvant compounds to their vaccines, we are providing a cost-effective way for IDRI to conduct vaccine research," said Mark Tomai, Vaccine Business Development, 3M Drug Delivery Systems. "This will help them and us learn more about the potential effectiveness of our vaccine adjuvants. We anticipate this collaboration with IDRI to be the first in many deals around our TLR vaccine adjuvant portfolio," Dr Tomai noted.