VaxInnate is developing a seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccine built from four viral strains each fused to a flagellin protein that acts as a toll-like receptor ligand. The company launched a Phase 2 study of its VAX2012Q seasonal influenza vaccine in June and expects top-line results soon. In Phase 1 studies, a low dosage of the vaccine showed immunogenic effects. Financially, VaxInnate has raised $3.3 million of a proposed $4.3 million equity round, per an SEC filing, and it raised $6 million in equity last year. It also has a BARDA contract for up to $53 million in non-dilutive funding to support development. VaxInnate develops vaccines by genetically fusing antigens to flagellin, leveraging a strong innate immune response to flagellated bacteria. The company says its recombinant, bacteria-based approach enables low-cost, highly scalable manufacturing that avoids many challenges of egg-based or cell-culture vaccine production. VaxInnate claims rapid-response manufacturing capability, able to generate 50 million doses within 5–6 months with first doses available at about three months. The technology spun out of Yale University more than a decade ago and the company is based in New Jersey. VaxInnate has raised well over $100 million to date and lists backers such as HealthCare Ventures, Oxford Bioscience Partners LLC, MedImmune Ventures, CHL Medical Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Canaan Partners and The Wellcome Trust. In 2011 the company secured a three-year, $117 million contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to develop flu vaccines. VaxInnate develops a proprietary recombinant vaccine technology platform aimed at improving potency, manufacturing capacity, and cost-effectiveness of vaccines for infectious diseases such as seasonal and pandemic influenza, dengue, and Clostridium difficile. The company is privately held and based in Cranbury, New Jersey, and reports positive Phase 1 and, in some cases, Phase 2 clinical data for monovalent seasonal and prototypic pandemic vaccine candidates, including demonstrated potency in elderly populations. VaxInnate collaborates with government partners including BARDA and the U.S. NIH and in 2011 received a BARDA contract worth up to $196 million over five years to fund influenza vaccine development. The company announced a new corporate website and will use recent funding to continue R&D on its vaccine programs. Its technology and programs have been repeatedly recognized by state and federal programs supporting biotech innovation. VaxInnate is a vaccine-focused biotech based in Cranbury, N.J. The company’s primary focus is on new influenza vaccines designed to stimulate toll-like receptors to produce a more robust immune response. It recently received a $597,000 small-business innovation grant from the NIH to support development of a vaccine against dengue fever, a mosquito-borne viral disease. The NIH grant will fund work specifically on the dengue-fever vaccine program. The company has published a description of its technology in connection with its vaccine efforts. VaxInnate is a vaccine company focused on developing vaccines for pandemic and seasonal influenza. The company is based in Cranbury, NJ. Its platform is designed to improve vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy while greatly reducing manufacturing costs. VaxInnate says it will use new funding to continue development of its human and avian flu vaccines and to pursue other prophylactic and therapeutic applications. The company raised $40 million in a Series C financing, reflecting continued investor interest amid concern about global pandemic risks. Participating investors include New Leaf Venture Partners, Canaan Partners, HealthCare Ventures, Oxford Bioscience Partners, MedImmune Ventures and CHL Medical Partners.

Total raised

$52M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2015