Billion-dollar deal takes UQ vaccine tech to the world

The University of Queensland's Molecular Clamp technology has been acquired by global healthcare giant Sanofi in a landmark deal worth up to US$1.6 billion – the largest involving a company commercialising intellectual property from an Australian university.

Sanofi entered into an agreement to acquire Vicebio, a company formed in 2018 to develop UQ's proprietary Molecular Clamp technology to make vaccines against life-threatening respiratory viral infections.

The technology gained worldwide attention in early 2020 when the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations asked UQ to develop a potential vaccine for COVID-19.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said the acquisition represented an opportunity for the technology to be accelerated through the final stages of translation into a vaccine addressing global health challenges.

“This extraordinary outcome validates 12 years of UQ research, and I pay tribute to the dedicated UQ scientists who invented the patented Molecular Clamp technology,” Terry said.

“Professor Keith Chappell, Professor Daniel Watterson and Emeritus Professor Paul Young have a tremendous passion for research that delivers for the public good.”

Professor Chappell said a key advantage of the Molecular Clamp platform was that it streamlined vaccine development across different viral families.

“This is incredibly important for outbreak responses but facilitates the efficient development of multi-pathogen vaccines that we believe will protect vulnerable populations against common viruses that cause severe respiratory diseases,” Chappell said.

Vicebio shareholders will receive up to US$1.6 billion, including an upfront payment of US$1.15 billion and development milestones payments up to US$450 million.

Picture: credit University of Queensland