Allergy Therapeutics signs Canada deal

LONDON - Allergy Therapeutics (AGY.L) said on Monday it has signed a distribution deal in Canada for its hayfever jab, and is in talks in the United States and Japan.

While the Canadian deal only covers Allergy's older Pollinex R jab, it includes an option for partner Nycomed to get rights for the state-of-the-art Pollinex Quattro injection.

The deal comes as the hayfever specialist reports renewed interest from marketing partners in the United States and Japan for the latest jab.

While talks were put on ice after U.S. officials issued a clinical stay on Pollinex Quattro, the company is seeing a pickup in interest after it successfully submitted a marketing application to regulators in Europe.

"Since we announced our submission in Europe we have had a heightened level of interest so people are talking to us where they weren't in the past (in the United States)," Chief Executive Keith Carter told Reuters in an interview.

"There are other geographies where we are in pretty active discussions we hope that something will come pretty soon.

"We've (also) had some ... interest coming from Japan."

He said both large and small companies had come forward.

The outlook for the clinical hold improved after GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L) cervical cancer jab Cervarix was resubmitted for U.S. approval in March, as the two jabs share the same adjuvant, which was a key sticking point for U.S. Food & Drug Administration officials. [ID:nLU536675]

By 1102 GMT, shares were up 2 percent to 11 pence. (Reporting by Ben Deighton; Editing by Andrew Macdonald)