AIDS vaccine duo

The New York-based, non-profit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) is to partner pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in an effort to develop an AIDS vaccine.

The partners say they will pursue a vaccine based on an adenovirus, which is stripped of its infectious genes, focusing on those that naturally infect chimpanzees. Previous vaccine candidates have been based on adenoviral vectors that infect humans.

Neither party will disclose the cost of the collaboration, but it is expected to run to several million dollars and is seen as an important step in establishing new avenues in the search for an effective AIDS vaccine.

Patent avalanche

Political uncertainty surrounding the future of embryonic stem-cell research isn't preventing a veritable rush of patenting activity, a survey of the biotechnology industry has found.

Marks & Clerk, a London-based consultancy, says that patent filings related to stem cells rose by four-fifths between 2000 and 2004, during which time more than 3,000 patents were filed on stem-cell technology worldwide.

Despite restrictions on government funding for embryonic stem-cell research, US patents outnumbered those filed in the three next most active countries — Australia, Britain and Japan — by four to one.

Eastern tie-up

Tokyo-based Gene Networks International said on 20 June that it will acquire Shanghai Genomics, a Chinese start-up company that is developing a drug to treat fluid build-up in the lungs.

The Japanese company said that the cross-border acquisition — the first venture of its type by a Japanese biotechnology company in China — will enable it to combine research in both countries with drug development in China, where clinical trials are faster and cheaper.

The combined operation will have about 100 employees, and hopes to raise money in the future through a public share offering in Japan.