Vaxxas injected with $20m

Vaxxas, a biotech spin-out of Queensland University, has raised A$25m ($20m) in its series B to further commercialise its needleless injection technologies.

Named one of Global University Venturing’s spin-outs to watch in 2015, the Australia-based firm will use the funding to develop a pipeline of vaccines for major diseases, such as influenza, polio, and bacterial infections, which can be delivered by its needle-free vaccination platform Nanopatch.

The latest round, led by existing investor OneVentures, brings the total funding for Vaxxas up to A$40m. The company previously held a A$15m series A when it was founded in 2011, also led by OneVentures, with support from Brandon Capital, the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, and HealthCare Ventures. The company has also secured grant funding from the World Health Organisation to develop the Nanopatch for polio vaccination.

David Hoey, CEO of Vaxxas, said: “As we have advanced the development of our Nanopatch needle-free vaccination technology, we have seen tremendous opportunities to create our own proprietary pipeline of Nanopatch-based vaccine products as well as those with partners. This funding creates an important inflection point for Vaxxas, as we are now poised to create significantly increased value through our first clinical studies.”