Omniose, a preclinical biotechnology company, today announced that it has been acquired by AstraZeneca. The acquisition follows a productive three-year exclusive research collaboration with AstraZeneca.

Under the terms of the agreement, Omniose has become a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca and a part of the Infectious Disease Unit. The acquisition brings Omniose’s proprietary bioconjugation platform and expertise into AstraZeneca, complementing existing capabilities and supporting its preclinical vaccine programs.

Conjugate vaccines are an effective form of immunization that require complex chemical processes for attaching bacterial polysaccharides to engineered carrier proteins. Bioconjugation greatly streamlines the manufacturing process and allows for more precise molecular design, which may produce a higher-quality vaccine. Conjugate vaccines traditionally require chemical processes to attach bacterial polysaccharides to carrier proteins. Omniose’s bioconjugation approach enables these components to be produced and linked within a single cell, offering a potentially simpler and more precise approach to conjugate vaccine development.

Christian Harding, CSO & Co-founder of Omniose, said: “This milestone reflects the work of exceptional and complementary teams. AstraZeneca has been a trusted partner for several years, and this acquisition gives our platform the best chance to reach the patients it was built to serve.”

Benjamin Moutier, Senior Vice President, Infectious Disease, AstraZeneca, said: “Omniose’s bioconjugation platform represents a differentiated approach to engineering conjugate vaccines and strengthens our ability to develop novel vaccines against serious bacterial infections. Building on the strong scientific collaboration between our teams, we look forward to advancing these programs and realizing the potential of this technology for patients.”

Timothy Cooke, CEO of Omniose, said: “The acquisition by AstraZeneca is a great outcome for both organizations. We share a vision for bringing the best science and talent together to address serious bacterial infections, which are increasingly complicated by antimicrobial resistance.”

About Omniose

Omniose is an early-stage biotechnology company developing polysaccharide conjugate vaccines against serious bacterial threats using its proprietary bioconjugation platform. Bioconjugation relies on single cells that simultaneously produce a polysaccharide antigen along with an engineered carrier protein and a conjugating enzyme to precisely link them together. This is a much simpler process than conventional chemical conjugation methods and has the potential to produce higher-quality vaccines. Our platform enables the precise enzymatic attachment of virtually any bacterial polysaccharide antigen to engineered carrier proteins within a single E. coli cell. www.omniose.com

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