Nobilon and Vivalis in EBx licensing accord

Dutch biopharmaceutical firm Nobilon, which is a unit of Organon, has acquired rights to the EBx embryonic stem cell line from France's Vivalis. The deal, financial terms of which were not made public, includes a related technology platform for the development, production and marketing of human influenza vaccines.

Han van den Bosch, director of R&D at Nobilon, said that the licensed technology provides the firm with an additional means of vaccine production. Vivalis' president, Franck Grimaud, said that the company was pleased to have entered into the agreement, adding that the group is confident that it could capture a significant share of the global influenza vaccine market.