Imaxio, which was created partly from a spin-off from the Medical Research Council and Cambridge University in the UK, raises extra funds.

Imaxio, a France-based vaccine and genomics business, raised €2.9m ($3.8m) from Pradeyrol Développement on Wednesday.

Imaxio said the funds would be used for the clinical development of its vaccine-carrying protein platform, designed to improve the efficacy of vaccinations against human and animal diseased.

It added the funds would also be used to also commercialising its vaccine against human leptospirosis, Spirolept, which is already marketed in France.

Imaxio was created by the merger Diagnogene and Avidis, a spin-off from the Medical Research Council and Cambridge University in the UK.

"As a historic shareholder, it is important for us to support Imaxio’s development strategy, which it adopted a year ago," said Doctor Christian Pradeyrol, chairman of Pradeyrol Développement.

Pradeyrol added: "The vaccine market is consistently growing, having increased by 21 per cent between 2006 and 2010, which makes it a very promising sector, especially for Imaxio and its carrier protein technology."

The company owns intellectual property and collaborates with numerous academic partners, including the Jenner Institute at Oxford University.

Imaxio is based in Lyon and at Saint Beauzire, near Clermont-Ferrand in France.

It has 24 employee and made €2.4m in revenues in 2011.