iBio Establishes Commercial License and Product Development Collaboration Agreement with Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos for New Va

NEWARK, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- iBio, Inc. (NYSE AMEX:IBIO) today announced the grant of a commercial, royalty-bearing license to Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos of Brazil to develop, manufacture and sell certain vaccines based upon iBio’s proprietary technology. Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos will invest more than $6 million to bring the first product – a new yellow fever vaccine – through Phase I clinical trials. Product development will be performed through a commercial collaboration among iBio, Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos, and iBio’s research and development collaborator, the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (FCMB).

The license covers the nations of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. iBio retains the right to sell the products developed under the license and collaboration agreement in any other territory with a royalty back to Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos.

Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos is a leading world manufacturer of yellow fever vaccine which it has exported to 70 countries.

“We believe this collaboration among iBio, Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos and FCMB will dramatically improve the way vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals are developed and manufactured in Brazil and supplied to the other nations in and beyond the licensed territory,” said Robert B. Kay, iBio’s Chairman and CEO. “This should help put Brazil in the forefront of state-of-the-art biologics production and distribution.”

“We believe iBio’s technology and FCMB’s experience and skills in the field, combined with our own capabilities and relationships, can make Brazil a leader in high technologies and advanced manufacturing processes for biopharmaceuticals,” said Artur Roberto Couto, Director of Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos.

“Current vaccines for yellow fever are produced in chicken eggs from a live, attenuated strain of the yellow fever virus,” said Dr. Vidadi Yusibov, Chief Scientific Officer of iBio and Executive Director of FCMB. “We are confident our technology for producing vaccines will significantly help to protect a broader audience against this serious disease.”

About Yellow Fever

Yellow fever is a viral infection in the group of diseases known as hemorrhagic fevers. The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, and is common in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. The disease, which causes fever, nausea and pain, varies in severity, but is frequently lethal when it progresses to bleeding or to liver damage. The World Health Organization has estimated that 200,000 unvaccinated people contract yellow fever each year, and 30,000 die from the disease.

About iBio, Inc.

iBio, Inc. is a biotechnology company offering its proprietary, transformative iBioLaunch technology platform for the production of biologics including therapeutic proteins and vaccines. The iBioLaunch platform uses transient gene expression in green plants for superior efficiency in protein production. Advantages include significantly lower capital and process costs, and the technology is ideally suited for complex proteins and for applications where speed, scalability, and surge capacity are important. The iBioLaunch technology was developed for iBio by the not-for-profit Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (FCMB) during the past eight years to overcome the inadequacies of existing technologies. iBio owns the intellectual property and technology developed at FCMB, and continues to sponsor development and application of the technology for biological applications in human health. Further information is available at www.ibioinc.com.

About Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos

Bio-Manguinhos is a unit of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), a central agency of the Ministry of Health of Brazil.

Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos produces and develops immunobiological items to respond to public health demands. Its product line consists of vaccines, reagents and biopharmaceuticals.

Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos is a leading company in the national export of human vaccines and a major participant in total export sales of the Brazilian pharmaceutical sector. Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos is one of the main producers of vaccines and diagnostics for infectious diseases in Latin America. Fiocruz/Bio-Manguinhos is a certified World Health Organization provider to United Nations agencies.

About Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology

Fraunhofer USA CMB, a division of Fraunhofer USA, Inc., is a not-for-profit research organization whose mission is to develop safe and effective vaccines targeting infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders. The technology CMB developed for iBio, Inc. provides a safe, rapid and economical alternative for both vaccine and therapeutic protein production. The Center conducts research in the area of plant biotechnology, utilizing new, cutting edge technologies applicable to the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human and animal diseases. The Center houses individuals with expertise and excellence in plant virology, pathology, molecular biology, immunology, vaccinology, protein engineering, and biochemistry. Further information is available at www.fraunhofer-cmb.org.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements included in this news release related to iBio, Inc. may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties such as competitive factors, technological development, market demand, and the Company's ability to obtain new contracts and accurately estimate net revenues due to variability in size, scope and duration of projects. Further information on potential risk factors that could affect the Company's financial results can be found in the company's Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



CONTACT:

Corporate:
iBio, Inc.
Robert Erwin, President
302-355-2335
[email protected]
or
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Anne Marie Fields, Senior Vice President
212-838-3777
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  Brazil  North America  South America  Delaware

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Biotechnology  Infectious Diseases  Pharmaceutical

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