Hospitals, Pharma, Startups

$14M round for ‘cross-kingdom vaccine’ maker will fund trials in prevention of yeast infections

Whereas most vaccines under development are designed to protect against one kind of pathogen, NovaDigm […]

Whereas most vaccines under development are designed to protect against one kind of pathogen, NovaDigm Therapeutics thinks a vaccine it’s developing could protect against certain fungal and bacterial infections caused by several species of the fungus Candida.

NovaDigm will be able to test its hypothesis thanks to a new 14 million Series B from RusnanoMedInvest, a $380 million fund in Moscow, Russia, and Domain Associates. The round will fund the continuation of a Phase 2 clinical trial of a vaccine against fungal and bacterial infections.

The Grand Folks, North Dakota, company’s lead product is NVD-3, a vaccine that targets the fungal pathogen Candida and the bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA. They can cause skin and mucosal infections and, occasionally, systemic infections. In its first application, NovaDigm is focusing on prevention and treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis (yeast infections).

The vaccine contains a recombinant form of Als3, a protein found on the surface of Candida albicans which helps it bind to and invade human endothelial cells. The synthetic version of the protein used in the vaccine is produced by the fermentation of yeast cells, CEO Timothy Cooke told MedCity News when we reported on the opening of the Series B back in May of last year.

In two phase 1 studies in 200 healthy adults, NDV-3 demonstrated a good safety and tolerability profile. Now it’s being tested in a 12-month, single-dose Phase 2 study evaluating the immune response it induces in 189 patients with recurrent yeast infections. NovaDigm says that topical antifungal drugs currently available are effective in treating infections but don’t prevent future infections unless they’re used all the time.

Additionally, NovaDigm is advancing NDV-3 for use in treating skin and soft tissue infections and hospital-associated infections caused by S. aureus and Candida.

Research behind the four-year-old company originated in the labs of Dr. Jack Edwards Jr. and a team of infectious disease researchers at Los Angeles BioMedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Up to this point, the company has been supported by $17 million in grants from NIH and a $14 million Series A from Domain Associates in 2008.

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