Dutch biotechnology company Crucell N.V. (Euronext, NASDAQ: CRXL; Swiss Exchange: CRX) announced today that it has signed a cross-licensing agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. In addition to previously licensed rights to PER.C6, the agreement opens the way for Merck to use Crucell technology on an exclusive basis in additional undisclosed vaccine fields. In return, Crucell receives access to Merck's large scale manufacturing technology for its AdVac®-based vaccines.

"This agreement will make it possible to speed up the delivery of our malaria and TB vaccines to the people in need, and makes it realistic to do so on the mass scale required," said Jaap Goudsmit, Chief Scientific Officer at Crucell. "It also opens the way for Crucell to speed up the Ebola program with the VRC, which has recently entered a phase I clinical trial. But most importantly, it brings the reality of vaccines such as these significantly closer."

Crucell's malaria vaccine program is supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The TB vaccine program is a collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. Both programs are based on Crucell's adenovirus vector technology, AdVac®, and are currently in Phase 1 clinical trials.