Syntro Corp. has licensed European marketing rights for itscattle vaccine, IBR/Marker, to Hoechst Veterinar GmbH.

Under the agreement, the Hoechst AG subsidiary will obtainregulatory approval, and Syntro is to receive licensing fees aswell as manufacturing and royalty revenues.

The herpes virus that the IBR vaccine fights is still targetedfor eradication in Europe, so the marker aspect of the vaccineis more important there than in the United States, whereherpes is already widespread, William Davies, Syntro vicepresident, told BioWorld.

The marker, which the Lenexa, Kan., company is incorporatinginto other genetically engineered vaccines in its pipeline,allows dairy and cattle farmers to find out which cattle werevaccinated and which are actually infected and contagious.

SyntroVet Inc., Syntro's subsidiary for animal products, willcommercialize the vaccine in the United States. The companyexpects USDA approval for IBR/Marker, its first product, in1992. Syntro (NASDAQ:SYNT) already has a collaboration withHoechst, announced in March, to develop poultry vaccines. -- RF

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