Wageningen UR heeft Boehringer Ingelsheim GmbH, de Duitse farmaceutischefirma op gebied van gezondheid van dieren, de patentenfamilie rond het PorcineRespiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) verkocht.
De Animal Science Group van Wageningen UR heeft samen met industriëlepartners een jarenlange expertise opgebouwd in de diagnostiek van en vaccinstegen PPRS, ook wel het Leystad-virus genoemd. Dit virus veroorzaakt reproductieve-en ademhalingsproblemen bij varkens en vormt een van de belangrijkste wereldwijdebedreigingen voor de productie van varkens.
Wageningen UR richt zich op het ontwikkelen en het marktrijp maken van kennis,veelal in samenwerking met een industriële partner. De commerciëlebenutting van de dan gecreëerde waarde kan naar het oordeel van WageningenUR het best geschieden door een industriële partij.
Boehringer Ingelheim heeft dit nieuws van het verkrijgen van de patentenfamiliebekend gemaakt in het navolgende persbericht:
Boehringer Ingelheim Announces Acquisition of PRRS Patent portfolio from ID-Lelystad
INGELHEIM, Germany, November 11, 2004 – Boehringer IngelheimAnimal Health Germany today announced that it acquired the patent portfoliofor Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) from ID-LelystadBV, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
Previously ID-Lelystad had granted Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH thesame patents under an exclusive licensing agreement. Simultaneously to signingthe sales documents, both companies entered a five-year R&D agreementthat commences from January 2005. This extends the companies’ successfulten-year collaboration in the field of veterinary product research and development.
“We are delighted that we have been able to develop our relationshipwith ID-Lelystad in such a way,” states Dr Joachim Hasenmaier, Headof Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. “We know that PRRS is a complexdisease pattern that causes huge losses in the pig industry every year andwe are confident that our newly established team of prominent researchersand partners will continue to provide pork producers with new, efficaciousvaccine solutions in years to come.”
Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) is one of themajor challenges for swine producers around the globe that causes considerablelosses in the pig industry.
The acquisition of the PRRS patents further underlines the commitmentof Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health to strengthen the swine vaccine portfolio.It currently provides several innovative swine vaccines under the brands ofIngelvac® and Enterisol®.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceuticalcompanies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with152 affiliates in 45 countries and more than 34,000 employees. Since it wasfounded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching,developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeuticvalue for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2003, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of 7.4 billion eurowhile spending more than one fifth of net sales in its largest business segmentPrescription Medicines on research and development.
The animal health business is conducted in 20 countries includingUSA, Canada, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, Mexico, the Nordic countries and Japan.Since 1954, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health is contributing to an adequatesupply of safe, nutritious food and is promoting the emotional and physicalbenefits arising from the human-animal bond.
NOOT VOOR DE REDACTIE
Voor meer informatie:
Namens Boehringer Ingelheim: Judith von Gordon, tel. +49 6132-77 3582
Namens Wageningen UR: prof. dr. Wim Jongen, directeur Kennisvalorisatie WageningenUR, tel.0317-485476, e-mail: wim.jongen@wur.nl,of dr Paul Steverink, tel. 0320-239268, e-mail: paul.steverink@wur.nl.