Vaxxas’ technology can be used to enhance vaccination in a number of key ways. Leveraging the potent immune response and thermostability of Vaxxas' proprietary HD-MAP along with its other benefits, the company is targeting initial applications in infectious disease and oncology in four distinct commercial segments:

  • Pandemic Response: Responding to pandemics, such as COVID-19 and pandemic flu
  • HD-MAP Licensing: Licensing the HD-MAP platform to leading global pharmaceutical companies
  • Global Vaccine Extension: Extending the reach of global health vaccine needs in low-and-middle income countries
  • In-Licensing Vaccines: In-licensing vaccines for commercialization by Vaxxas

Pandemic Preparedness

The scale of the health and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has driven unprecedented funding and commitment to the development of next-generation vaccines and vaccine-technology platforms.

Accelerated efforts led by governments around the world to expand countermeasure capabilities for potential future pandemic threats, offer the promise of a faster, broader and less impactful response. Needle injection imposes complex logistics such as strict refrigeration and the need for populations to travel to mass vaccination sites, that slow vaccination rates.

Vaxxas' HD-MAP platform can fundamentally improve pandemic response capabilities via:

  • Less vaccine for each dose, means more doses, faster, from limited vaccine stocks
  • Enhanced immunogenicity, means faster protection
  • Thermostable, means a more resilient and simplified vaccine supply chain
  • Potential for self-administration, means improved accessibility

In September 2024, Vaxxas initiated a Phase I clinical trial of a pre-pandemic influenza vaccine delivered using its needle-free HD-MAP technology with funding from the U.S. Government's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to potentially enable a quicker and broader vaccination response to a future pandemic.

Licensing To Global Pharmaceutical Companies

Vaxxas' HD-MAP platform can be used by existing vaccine companies to improve the commercial and therapeutic potential of existing and new vaccines.

Vaxxas is developing commercial alliances with global leaders in the vaccine marketplace.

Vaxxas has established a collaboration and license agreement with Merck (known as Merck in the U.S. and MSD outside of the U.S.). Under an agreement, signed in 2020, Merck has exclusive rights to utilize Vaxxas' proprietary HD-MAP platform for an undisclosed vaccine candidate from Merck's vaccine pipeline. Merck also has options to license the HD-MAP technology for two additional vaccines.

Vaxxas is pursuing collaborations and licenses with other global leaders in vaccines to leverage the benefits of its HD-MAP platform, including:

  • Enhanced immunogenicity
  • Simplified vaccine delivery chain
  • Ease of use

Extending The Reach Of Global Health Vaccines

Vaccines are one of the most successful and cost-effective innovations that save lives and improve global health. Vaxxas sees tremendous potential for the HD-MAP platform to support the adoption of greater levels of vaccination, particularly as the HD-MAP platform enables vaccine distribution without the need for end-to-end refrigeration. Vaxxas is working with leading organizations to advance HD-MAP-based vaccinations for a range of diseases, including influenza, COVID-19, typhoid and measles and rubella. With organizations such as CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Vaxxas is also looking at ways to enhance next-gen vaccines including the elimination of frozen storage for mRNA vaccines.

In-Licensing Vaccines

Key to advancing a broad range of HD-MAP vaccine products to global markets, Vaxxas plans to in-license a series of vaccine antigens for internal development on the HD-MAP platform. Vaxxas is consistently screening a range of vaccine candidates in the fields of infectious disease and oncology in preparation for clinical development.

The first in-licensed program from Vaxxas aims to create a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine patch using HexaPro, a spike glycoprotein designed by leading COVID-19 vaccine experts to elicit a more robust protection against all relevant SARS-CoV-2 variants. Vaxxas has exclusively licenced HexaPro for use on needle-free vaccine patches from the University of Texas at Austin and completed Phase I clinical studies with positive results.

Vaxxas has also licensed a next-generation vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) for worldwide use.