French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Pasteur plans to buy Orlando-based biotech company VaxDesign in a $60 million deal, which will bring the presence of a major international pharmaceutical company to Central Florida.
In addition, VaxDesign plans to nearly double the size of its facility in the next three or four months and add another 17 high-wage jobs within the next 12 months.
Lyon, France-based Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis Group (NYSE: SNY), is the largest company in the world devoted entirely to human vaccines.
Sanofi Pasteur signed a binding agreement on Sept. 27 for the acquisition of VaxDesign, which develops, makes and markets in vitro models of the human immune system. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.