Pharmaceutical research services provider Charles River Laboratories International Inc (NYSE:CRL) and Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (MVC), a developer of vaccines for infectious diseases, announced on Thursday that they are collaborating to characterise and validate the virus seed bank for MVC's next-generation multivalent enterovirus vaccine.

Charles River will use analytical platforms including Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), to support Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls activities, with the collaboration aimed at accelerating development, strengthening global regulatory readiness and supporting IND-enabling non-clinical studies.

Medigen's ENVACGEN Enterovirus 71 Vaccine has been approved in Taiwan and Vietnam, and the company is advancing a next-generation multivalent vaccine. Charles River will contribute expertise in virology, biologics testing, non-clinical development and regulatory science, while Medigen provides its established vaccine research capabilities.

The companies also plan to explore additional opportunities across other vaccine programmes targeting infectious diseases and unmet medical needs. Charles River's CGMP NGS services are designed to support development timelines and regulatory requirements, while its acquisition of Pathoquest expanded its sequencing-based testing capabilities for biopharmaceutical products.