Australian needle-free vaccine start-up raises $23m
OneVentures and UniQuest have led a AUD 34m (USD 23m) funding round for Vaxxas, an Australia-based biotechnology company running clinical programmes that include a needle-free COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
The company's core technology was initially developed at the University of Queensland and Vaxxas was established in 2011 by UniQuest, the university's commercialisation unit.
OneVentures was also present from the outset, leading an early round with support from Brandon Capital Partners, Brandon BioCatalyst, and US-based HealthCare Ventures. That Series A of AUD 15m – which also featured Australia's Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) – was followed by a Series B of AUD 25m in 2015. OneVentures led that round as well.
Proceeds from the latest financing will be used to advance various clinical programmes, including the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, and the installation of manufacturing lines with the capacity to support late-stage clinical studies and early commercial production.
Vaxxas has also received a further AUD 100m under contracts with US and Australian government agencies. Its supporters include the US Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA), global health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The COVID-19 vaccine candidate, currently in phase-one clinical trials, is based on a proprietary delivery mechanism – known as a high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) – for HexaPro, a second-generation version of the spike protein used in all major US-approved COVID-19 vaccines. Vaxxas has an exclusive license from The University of Texas at Austin to develop a vaccine using a patch.
Results from preclinical animal studies of HD-MAP-delivered HexaPro indicated potential efficacy against all currently known variants of COVID-19.
"We believe Vaxxas' needle-free vaccination technology will dramatically improve the availability, efficacy, and safety of vaccines for a range of serious and prevalent diseases, including COVID-19 and influenza," Paul Keely, a founding partner and head of healthcare at OneVentures, said in a statement.
"We are pleased to continue supporting the Vaxxas team through this pivotal time in the company's growth – as it applies a breakthrough approach to address some of the most significant unmet global needs in infectious and potentially other diseases."
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