CanSino Biotech Inc. today announced a collaboration with National Research Council of Canada (NRC). As indicated in the agreement signed in Tianjin Joint Academy of Biotechnology and Medicine (TJAB), CanSino with join hands with NRC 

to develop a novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccine according to the terms of the agreement on science & technology cooperation signed between China and Canada on Jan 16, 2007. NRC will apply its proprietary GMP-standard HEK293 cell line and advanced technologies to promote the development and commercialization of the TB vaccine. The specific mode of collaboration remained to be determined.

CanSino’s Chairman and CEO, Dr. Xufeng Yu, and NRC’s Director of R&D and Head of Vaccine Program, Dr. Jim Richards singed the agreement on behalf of both parties. Also present at the signing ceremony were Director of Tianjin Science and Technology Commission Qiuyu Xia, Vice Presidents of TJAB Dr. Lin Wang and Dr. Zeqi Zhou, Senior Research Officer Wangxue Chen, CanSino’s Vice President of R&D Dr. Tao Zhu and CanSino employees. 

After the signing ceremony, Dr. Richards gave a brief introduction of NRC and then a seminar titled “Glyco-conjugate Vaccine Strategies for the Prevention of Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections”. Dr. Richards along with the delegation also visited the CanSino pilot production based in TEDA and had a panel discussion with Dr. Lin Wang and Dr. Zeqi Zhou on collaboration possibilities, particularly on immunotherapy treatment and prevention of fungal infections.