Respiratory viruses and vaccines are a bit of a hot topic right now. But Icosavax has specialized in the two since it launched in 2018.
Now the Seattle-based biotech company is raising funding to fuel its next batch of vaccines. On Wednesday, Icosavax announced that it closed $100 million in its Series B funding round. RA Capital Management led the round, with participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Perceptive Advisors, Viking Global Investors, Cormorant Asset Management and several others.
This new capital will help push Icosavax’s bivalent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) vaccine programs through clinical trials. Both RSV and hMPV are respiratory viruses with no currently approved vaccines against them.
Icosavax also says it will put some of this funding toward evaluating its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, which could join a growing list of vaccines that help prevent COVID-19.
What makes Icosavax’s vaccines unique is the technology that’s used to create them. The company has developed “computationally designed virus-like particle” technology, which creates virus-like particles (VLPs) out of proteins that resemble certain parts of specific viruses. These particles can trigger an immune response much like a specific virus would, which in turn helps build up immunity against that virus. Unlike the real virus, Icosavax’s VLP technology contains no genetic information, so the virus-like particles can’t replicate and infect a human.
This technology is based on research from the Institute for Protein Design, within the University of Washington.
“We are delighted to have attracted a top-tier investor syndicate who recognize the potential of our VLP technology to create more effective and durable vaccines for at-risk populations, like the elderly, where traditional vaccines have reduced efficacy,” Icosavax CEO Adam Simpson said in a statement. “Based on preclinical data, we believe our vaccine candidates could offer significant protection against leading viral causes of pneumonia in older adults where no licensed vaccines currently exist.”
Like Simpson mentioned, these vaccines have the potential to benefit older adults. Many vaccines are not as effective against preventing disease in older adults as they are in preventing disease in other age groups. Yet at the same time, this population is among the most vulnerable to respiratory diseases. Icosavax aims to create vaccines that can offer protection to the elderly, in addition to other age groups.
With this funding, Peter Kolchinsky, Ph.D. of RA Capital Management will join Icosavax’s board of directors.
