The annual flu vaccine only prevents against three or four strains of flu-causing viruses that are circulating during any given year. A number of drug companies think more sophisticated vaccines could do better at preventing seasonal and pandemic flu. One of those is Visterra Inc., which has rounded up $8.1 million from investors to see if its broader influenza A vaccine is safe and effective in humans.
The company says its lead candidate, VIS410, targets multiple strains of influenza A that mutate and replicate quickly by intervening at an early step in the infection cycle, to prevent entry of the virus into a host cell.
Six-year-old Visterra has demonstrated that the vaccine can neutralize potentially pandemic strains of influenza in pre-clinical models. Now, with the additional financing bringing its Series A up to $34.2 million, it’s planning to move the vaccine into the clinic next year.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
The Cambridge company has quite a backing — Polaris Venture Partners, Flagship Ventures, Lux Capital, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Omega Funds participated in this tranche of the Series A. It’s also added two pharma veterans to its executive team – former AMAG Pharmaceuticals CFO David Arkowitz as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, and former Concert Pharmaceuticals VP Greg Miller as vice president of business development and strategic planning.
In the meantime, Visterra is also using its protein ‘network’ analysis technology, which it says enables a more in-depth structural understanding of proteins, to guide the development of other drugs against infectious diseases, including dengue. Visterra is using its platform in a collaboration with Pfizer.
Among the other companies developing universal or pandemic flu vaccines are Novartis, Sanofi, Medicago and Dynavax.
