Immune Design Obtains Vaccine Booster From IDRI

Immune Design, the Seattle-based vaccine development company, has obtained a worldwide exclusive license to develop a vaccine-boosting compound invented at the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI). The technology, a glycopyranosyl lipid adjuvant, may be used to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. The nonprofit IDRI will receive an upfront payment, milestone payments on success in testing, and royalties from sales if it ever turns into a product, as well as shares in Immune Design, a startup that raised $18 million in a Series A venture round in June.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.