Thursday, October 2, 2008

Rotarix brings $10M payment to Celldex

By Mass High Tech Staff

The market launch of rotovirus vaccine Rotarix by GlaxoSmithKline has triggered a $10 million milestone payment to Needham-based Celldex Therapeutics, Inc.

The payment was made by an affiliate of investment firm Paul Capital Healthcare.

Celldex president and CEO Anthony Marucci said the company will use the final milestone payment to advance its clinical programs and to support creation of additional novel disease-specific drug candidates through its Precision Targeted Immunotherapy Platform.

Marucci was recently named permanent CEO, a position he has held since May when the former Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc. of Needham merged with then-New Jersey-based Celldex. The merged company began operating under the Celldex name in late September.

Celldex focuses on developing vaccines and antibodies.

In June, the company licensed a vaccine for brain cancer to drug giant Pfizer Inc. for an initial sum of $40 million, the companies reported.

GSK licensed Rotarix from Avant 11 years ago, and the vaccine, which targets rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants and children, won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in April.