Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) today announced that it has been granted an important patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent covers the manufacturing of influenza vaccines using Crucell's PER.C6® cell line technology. With this new patent Crucell considerably strengthened its PERC6® patent portfolio in this field. The newly granted patent provides additional years of patent protection for the use of the PER.C6® technology in the influenza field.

In December 2003, sanofi pasteur and Crucell entered into an exclusive license agreement to further develop and commercialize new influenza vaccines based on Crucell's proprietary PER.C6® cell line technology. The agreement covers pre-pandemic, pandemic and interpandemic (seasonal) influenza vaccines. Sanofi pasteur initiated PER.C6®-based clinical studies for the influenza vaccine in September 2006.