EMERYVILLE, Calif.,
Oct. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amyris,
Inc. (Nasdaq: AMRS), a leading synthetic biotechnology company in
Clean Health and Beauty markets through its consumer brands, and a
top supplier of sustainable and natural ingredients, today
announced the signing of a Collaboration Agreement and License
Agreement with the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) to
advance a novel ribonucleic acid (RNA) vaccine platform, including
accelerating the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The collaboration will combine IDRI's RNA vaccine platform,
including IDRI's proprietary nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC)
platform, with Amyris's semi-synthetic squalene. This has the
potential to offer differentiated advantages over other RNA
vaccines, including superior scalability, efficacy, and
sustainability.
Amyris will co-own intellectual property developed to create the
COVID-19 vaccine, any rights in any combination of IDRI materials
and Amyris squalene, the pre-clinical and Phase I clinical trial
data, and the Clinical Study Report.
"We believe to have a differentiated vaccine platform that uses
a replicating RNA molecule to express viral antigens, formulated
and delivered with a nanostructured lipid carrier system that can
be stockpiled for use across a variety of infectious diseases and
cancers," said Dr. Corey Casper, Chief Executive Officer of
IDRI. "We are delighted to be embarking on this critical program
with Amyris and believe use of their novel, sustainable,
semi-synthetic squalene will prove invaluable in our joint vaccine
development efforts."
"We are excited to combine IDRI's expertise in vaccines with our
synthetic biology platform to deliver an effective and sustainable
vaccine for COVID-19," said John
Melo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amyris. "A
much needed second generation vaccine will have a fast-follower
pharmaceutical advantage and solve expected supply chain and
manufacturing bottlenecks. Amyris has a strong research partnership
with Universidade Católica Portuguesa. As part of this relationship
we have advanced preliminary approval of a grant to fund the
program through Phase 1 trials. We anticipate initiating a Phase 1
clinical trial around mid-2021."
Vaccines licensed from IDRI to Amyris are originally intended
for COVID-19, plus up to three additional indications, and Amyris
will have the right to develop and commercialize each such vaccine
for all fields of use and all indications (excluding zika, yellow
fever and Epstein-Barr Virus), including pandemic or seasonal
influenza, and certain cancer treatments.
The vaccine development collaboration project for COVID-19 is
expected to conclude in the first half of 2022.
About Amyris
Amyris (Nasdaq: AMRS) is a science and technology leader in the
research, development and production of sustainable ingredients for
the Clean Health & Beauty and Flavors & Fragrances markets.
Amyris uses an impressive array of exclusive technologies,
including state-of-the-art machine learning, robotics and
artificial intelligence. Our ingredients are included in over 3,000
products from the world's top brands, reaching more than 200
million consumers. Amyris is proud to own three consumer brands -
all built around its No Compromise® promise of clean ingredients:
Biossance™ clean beauty skincare, Pipette™ clean baby skincare and
Purecane™, a zero-calorie sweetener naturally derived from
sugarcane. For more information, please visit www.amyris.com.
About IDRI
As a nonprofit global health organization, IDRI (Infectious
Disease Research Institute) takes a comprehensive approach to
combat infectious diseases and cancer, combining the high-quality
science of a research organization with the product development
capabilities of a biotech company to create vaccines and
therapeutics. IDRI combines passion for improving human health with
the understanding that it is not just what our scientists know
about disease, but what we do to change its course that will have
the greatest impact. Founded in 1993, IDRI has 55 employees
headquartered in Seattle with more
than 100 partners/collaborators around the world. For more
information, visit www.idri.org.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, and any
statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed
to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
include, among other things, statements regarding the advantages of
IDRI's RNA vaccine platform, enhancement of IDRI's RNA vaccine
platform resulting from Amyris' adjuvant, capacity of Amyris'
adjuvant to facilitate people's access to vaccines, the efficacy,
performance, sustainability and scalability of the IDRI vaccine
platform when combined with Amyris' sugarcane-derived squalene, the
potential to create co-owned joint intellectual property, the
success of the project, the creation of clinical trial data, the
progression of the project through production of a Clinical Study
Report, possibility of receipt of approval of grant and grant
funds, amount and use of any grant funds, involvement by
Universidade Católica Portuguesa in grant application, funding and
project, project timeline and expected completion plans to
commercialize the vaccine solution, and ability of the project's
vaccine solution to reach the market on an accelerated basis. These
statements are based on management's current expectations, and
actual results and future events may differ materially due to risks
and uncertainties, including risks related to Amyris' liquidity and
ability to fund operating and capital expenses, risks related to
potential delays or failures in development, production and
commercialization of products, risks related to Amyris' reliance on
third parties, and other risks detailed from time to time in
filings Amyris makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form
10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Amyris disclaims any
obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise.
Amyris, the Amyris logo, No Compromise, Biossance, Pipette, and
Purecane are trademarks or registered trademarks of Amyris, Inc. in
the U.S. and/or other countries.
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SOURCE Amyris, Inc.