Crucell, Merck in License Deal

Crucell

(CRXL)

has entered a cross-licensing agreement with

Merck

(MRK) - Get Report

involving the companies' vaccine technologies.

"This agreement will make it possible to speed up the delivery of our malaria and TB vaccines to the people in need, and makes it realistic to do so on the mass scale required," said Jaap Goudsmit, chief scientific officer at Crucell. "It also opens the way for Crucell to speed up the Ebola program with the

Vaccine Research Center, which has recently entered a phase I clinical trial."

Crucell's malaria vaccine development program is supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases group. The TB vaccine program is a collaboration with the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation.

Shares of Crucell were up 52 cents, or 2.1%, to $25.59.