A vaccine developer focused on fighting infectious diseases like HSV-2, Pneumococcus and malaria has just gotten a $30 million vote of confidence from investors.
Genocea Biosciences says its ATLAS platform mimics the human T cell immune response in the laboratory, allowing it to identify and test T cell antigens in less time and with more effectiveness than traditional vaccine discovery methods.
It’s just closed a $30 million series C round that will support continued development of its therapeutic vaccine for Herpes Simplex Virus type 2, which is designed to trigger a response from both the T cell and B cell arms of the immune system. The vaccine is currently in Phase 1/2a clinical trials and should generate preliminary data by the second half of next year, the company said in a news release.
Funds will also support continued preclinical development of a preventive vaccine for all serotypes of Pneumococcal infections, which is on track to begin clinical trials late next year.
Joining in the round were the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and CVF LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown and Company. Existing investors Polaris Venture Partners, Lux Capital, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Skyline Ventures, Cycad Group, Auriga Partners, MP Healthcare Ventures and Morningside also contributed.
This round brings the Cambridge, Massachusetts firm’s total equity financing to $76 million, a good chunk of change for a company that just began clinical trials for its first candidate earlier this year.
In collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Genocea will also use some of the funds to expand its malaria program, with the hope of identifying antigens that could potentially be included in a malaria vaccine.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Genocea was founded in 2006 based on technology developed at Harvard Medical School.
