Codagenix Secures $20 Million Series B Financing to Advance Live-Attenuated Vaccines and Oncolytic Virus Therapies

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on January 14, 2020, U.S. biotechnology company Codagenix announced the completion of a $20 million Series B financing round. The round was led by Adjuvant Capital, with participation from Euclidean Capital and Topspin Partners.

Following the completion of this funding round, Codagenix plans to utilize the proceeds to further the clinical development of its live-attenuated vaccines: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for the elderly, a broadly protective influenza vaccine, and an oncolytic virus vaccine for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Additionally, the company intends to commercialize its RSV and influenza vaccines, advance its oncology programs into Phase I clinical trials, and launch two new vaccine development initiatives targeting neglected areas of public health.

Codagenix, a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in New York, USA, was co-founded on August 1, 2011, by Eckard Wimmer, Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University; J. Robert Coleman, Chief Executive Officer of Codagenix; and Steffen Mueller, President and Chief Scientific Officer. Since its inception, the company has been dedicated to the research and development of viruses for vaccines and solid tumor therapies. It leverages software to recode viral genomes, constructing live-attenuated vaccines or viruses to prevent viral infections and treat solid tumors.

It is reported that all live attenuated vaccines currently used in clinical practice were developed in the 1880s based on a trial-and-error approach, predating the discovery of the DNA double helix. At that stage, vaccine developers could only blindly construct vaccines using the target virus, a process that was not only time-consuming and costly but also carried the risk of generating unpredictable viral variants, resulting in suboptimal safety and insufficient immunogenicity. Codagenix has proposed a breakthrough approach to live attenuated vaccine design. Its platform leverages computational algorithms and synthetic biology to “redesign” the entire genome of the target virus, thereby generating vaccine strains that are 100% identical in terms of antigens while possessing a genome attenuated in the host. Consequently, vaccination with such vaccines can elicit robust protective immune responses.

To date, the company has developed a diverse portfolio of vaccine products and solid tumor therapies. Its vaccine offerings include influenza vaccines, RSV vaccines, dengue fever vaccines, as well as vaccines for agricultural and companion animals. Its solid tumor therapies encompass treatments for triple-negative breast cancer and melanoma.

Glenn Rockman, Managing Partner at Adjuvant Capital, stated, “Compared with the trial-and-error process used to develop most live-attenuated vaccines, Codagenix’s software-driven viral encoding approach is precisely the type of next-generation transformative technology we strive to fund. Codagenix not only has the potential to develop more optimized and affordable vaccines but also holds promise for addressing ongoing public health challenges. It is exciting that Codagenix’s technology offers an opportunity to succeed where other immunization strategies have failed, and we are delighted to support them.”

“Codagenix is delighted to partner with Adjuvant Capital, whose support enables us to accelerate the development of our synthetic biology platform and extend its benefits to a broader population. We are capable of rationally designing novel biologics to treat diseases that pose a significant burden on global public health,” said J. Robert Coleman, MBA, PhD, CEO of Codagenix.

Adjuvant Capital, founded on January 1, 2012, and headquartered in Redhill, Central Singapore, is a life sciences investment firm focused on global health. To date, the company has made investments ranging from $10 million to $25 million, targeting high-burden and neglected disease areas.

Euclidean Capital, established in 2009 and headquartered in New York, USA, is a hedge fund firm.

Topspin Partners is a private equity firm founded on January 1, 2001, and headquartered in New York, USA. It focuses on control investments in lower-middle-market companies with EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) ranging from $2 million to $10 million. The company is dedicated to acquiring businesses that possess both defensive characteristics and differentiated advantages, enabling them to compete effectively in the marketplace.

(Compiled by Yang Xiaohui)