Affinivax gets additional funding to advance its pneumococcal vaccine

This is a follow-on investment from the foundation for achievement based on the development of a new pneumococcal vaccine which targets Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) towards clinical testing.

The company says that its MAPS (Multiple Antigen Presentation System) vaccine technology can overcome the limitations from present conjugate vaccine technology where there is limited protection from only 13 pneumococcal strains.

The company claims that this new vaccine is said to be both cost effective and it offers broader protection against both invasive disease as well as colonization and disease transmission – offers protection against all pneumococcal strains.

Affinivax CEO, Steven B. Brugger said: "This additional investment from the Gates Foundation validates the excellent progress we have made since we founded the company last year."

"Based on the robust data from preclinical trials, demonstrating protection against both invasive disease and colonization, we will now advance our final vaccine candidate towards IND submission and proof-of-concept in clinical testing.

"We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Gates Foundation to develop vaccines that can have a potential global impact on infectious disease."

Affinivax, initially received an investment of $4m from Melinda & Gates Foundation in October, 2014 and was announced along with the launch of Affinivax.

The proceeds from the investment will go towards the expansion of the vaccine technology platform (Multiple Antigen Presentation System) that Affinivax has developed.

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a bacterium commonly found in the upper respiratory tract of healthy children and adults. It can cause serious infections ranging from pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis, representing a major global health problem.

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.6 million people, including more than 800,000 children under 5 years old, die every year from pneumococcal infections, with most of these deaths occurring in low-resource countries.