… with a single shot for all flu and then coronaviruses, HIV, herpes, malaria, cancer and more! These scourges have evaded effective vaccines because they continuously mutate their outer epitopes to evade our immune system. Centivax is the first to show a universal vaccine working in multiple animals and human organoids. With this Series A funding, led by Future Ventures, they will take it to humans.
“Universal vaccines won’t just be safer, more reliable and more convenient medicine – their commercialization will end the pandemic era” — Jacob Glanville, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Centivax (video of him I took at SynBioBeta)
“I have been on a quest to find a credible antiviral breakthrough for over 20 years. I first became enamored with the prospect of a universal vaccine via our philanthropy. Centivax has already demonstrated their universal immunity platform in antivenom. Their unique approach will hopefully lead to a historic transition to a post-pandemic era for humanity” — me
The growing portfolio underscores the technology’s broad potential against rapidly mutating threats, including viruses, bacteria, protozoan, fungal and parasitic pathogens, but also extending to broad healthspan indications spanning oncology, autoimmunity, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration.
We also welcome to the board Dr. Emilio Emini, former SVP of Vaccine R&D at Pfizer and Merck and CEO of the Gates Medical Research Institute where he ran their HIV and TB programs.
“Centivax designed a vaccine that contains a whopping 22 different mRNA molecules encoding proteins from flu strains spanning the past century. The South San Francisco-based company claims animal studies show that the immune system can spot the commonalities between the strains and focus its attack on the tidbits of the virus that are unlikely to change from season to season. ‘They always have this Achilles’ heel, a little spot that they can’t mutate. Otherwise, they’re no longer infectious,’ Centivax founder and CEO Jacob Glanville told Endpoints. ‘A universal vaccine, once it’s approved, is just going to be called ‘the vaccine’ because why would people take anything else?
‘FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has predicted that a universal flu vaccine could be available within five years, a timeline that aligns with Centivax’s plans. ‘Every year we have a global outbreak, which is nuts,’ Glanville said. ‘If we do our jobs well, then the pandemic era is over.’” — Today’s Endpoint news
Company funding announcement here.
Leave a Reply