Medimmune and Sanofi Pasteur have announced an agreement to develop and commercialise MEDI8897, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) for the prevention of lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV,) jointly.

MEDI8897 is currently in a Phase IIb clinical trial in pre-term infants who are ineligible for Synagis, the current standard of care medicine, and the development plan includes a proposed Phase III trial in healthy full-term and late pre-term infants.

Under the terms of the global agreement, Sanofi Pasteur will make an upfront payment of €120 million and pay up to €495 million upon achievement of certain development and sales-related milestones. The two companies will share all costs and profits equally. MedImmune and AstraZeneca will continue to lead all development activity through initial approvals, and AstraZeneca will retain MEDI8897 manufacturing activities. Sanofi-Pasteur will lead commercialisation activities for MEDI8897.

“By combining our development expertise and leadership in RSV with Sanofi Pasteur’s significant global experience in commercialising paediatric vaccines we hope to provide an RSV disease prevention approach for all infants, both term and pre-term. This agreement supports our focus on our three main therapy areas, while delivering value from the innovative science in our pipeline through partnerships,” commented Bahija Jallal, Executive Vice President, MedImmune.

AstraZeneca will maintain a direct ongoing interest in MEDI8897 through the alliance. Revenue from the agreement, including the upfront payment of €120 million and up to €495 million in milestone payments, will therefore be reported as Externalisation Revenue in the Company’s financial statements. The agreement was completed at signing and does not impact AstraZeneca’s financial guidance for 2017.