Biotech start-up Verovaccines concludes international pharma cooperation agreement
The goal is to develop and commercialize novel, cost-effective vaccines for animal health
The Verovaccines GmbH has signed the first cooperation agreement with a Japanese pharmaceutical partner for the joint development of an animal vaccine. This cooperation documents a significant step forward in the company’s development and the clear interest of market participants in vaccines based on the novel technology platform. In the Seed Investment Round, the company raised seven-figure funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds, Business Angels and the founders as well as funding from the German government’s GO-Bio programme.
Verovaccines develops novel vaccines for animal health using a proprietary technology platform based on K. lactis milk yeast. In several previous vaccine tests, good results were achieved in the target animal pig (Proof of Concept) with regard to protection against a viral pathogen. The vaccines are very cost-effective to manufacture, highly efficacious, easy to combine, heat-stable and safe to manufacture and use. All in all, these properties represent important unique selling points on the international vaccine market. The application of the technology platform offers urgently needed solutions for a large number of infectious diseases in animals.
Managing Director Dr. Hanjo Hennemann: “This pharmaceutical cooperation demonstrates the validity of the technology platform and the added value that our vaccines have in the market through the proof of concept results already achieved. We look forward to further cooperate with our partner”.
The Senior Investment Manager of the High-Tech Gründerfonds, Dr. Philipp Rittershaus, adds: “We are pleased about the successful development of the vaccination platform, which we have accompanied since the foundation phase. The successful development work of the team is positively confirmed by the industry and market interest”.
Yeast-based vaccines
The vaccines of Verovaccines GmbH are based on a proprietary and patent-protected technology platform using the milk yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. Several different immunity-triggering proteins (antigens) can be produced in one yeast cell to generate cost-effective combination vaccines. The vaccines contain complete, killed yeast cells that are made heat-stable by freeze-drying and can therefore be stored at room temperature. The technology is safely validated by proof of concept in three vaccine programs in the respective target animals. Verovaccines is using its broad technology to develop a product pipeline of seven vaccines against pathogens in pigs, cattle, poultry and fish.
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