OXFORD, United Kingdom, March 17, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaccitech Ltd (“Vaccitech”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer, today announces that it has raised $168 million in a Series B financing. This includes $43 million in convertible loan notes previously issued by Vaccitech that converted into Series B shares.
The Series B financing round was led by M&G Investment Management (part of M&G plc), with further participation from new investors including Tencent, Gilead Sciences, Monaco Constitutional Reserve Fund, and Future Planet Capital among others. The Series B financing round was also supported by existing investors, including Oxford Sciences Innovation.
“We expect this financing to enable us to reach key value inflection points for our lead programs,” said Bill Enright, Chief Executive Officer of Vaccitech. “We now look forward to advancing key programs towards generating proof-of-concept data in indications with significant need of effective new treatments.”
The proceeds from the financing will support the continued development of three infectious disease and immuno-oncology programs. The programs include:
- A Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VTP-300 in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The first patient in the trial was dosed in February 2021.
- A Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VTP-200 in patients with persistent, high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.
- A Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VTP-850 in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor in patients with prostate cancer.
Vaccitech’s proprietary prime-boost platform combines modified simian adenoviral vectors (known as ChAdOx1 or ChAdOx2) to prime a targeted immune response with the Modified Vaccinia Ankara virus (MVA) to boost the targeted immune response against cells infected with a virus or tumor cells. Vaccitech’s heterologous prime-boost approach has been demonstrated to drive powerful immune responses, including the leading CD8+ T cell stimulation profile in humans, to date. In addition to the HBV, HPV and prostate cancer programs, Vaccitech’s pipeline includes product candidates targeting infectious disease (including MERS coronavirus and Herpes Zoster) and cancer (including non-small cell lung cancer).
“Vaccitech is aiming to address serious global public health challenges in both infectious disease and cancer with their T cell inducing immunotherapy platform,” said Jack Daniels, Chief Investment Officer of M&G plc. “We believe their innovative approach, based on foundational research performed at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, could provide a solution for many serious diseases.”
About Vaccitech Ltd.
Vaccitech is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer. The company’s proprietary platform comprises modified simian adenoviral vectors, known as ChAdOx1 and ChAdOx2, as well as the well-validated Modified Vaccinia Ankara, or MVA, boost vector, all of which lack the ability to replicate in humans. The combination of a ChAdOx prime treatment with subsequent MVA boost has consistently generated significantly higher magnitudes of CD8+ T cells compared with other technologies and approaches. The company has a broad pipeline of both clinical and preclinical stage therapeutic programs in viral infections, solid tumors and prophylactic viral vaccine programs. The company is also co-developing prophylactic products for MERS coronavirus and Herpes Zoster with international collaborators. Vaccitech co-invented a COVID-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford (now known as AZD1222), which is now approved for use in many territories and exclusively licensed worldwide to AstraZeneca through Oxford University Innovation, or OUI. Vaccitech is entitled to receive a share of the milestones and royalty income received by OUI from AstraZeneca. Vaccitech is backed by leading institutions, including M&G, GV, Sequoia Capital China, Gilead Sciences, Tencent, Korea Investment Partners and Oxford Sciences Innovation.
About M&G plc
M&G plc is an international savings and investments business, managing money for both individual savers and institutional investors in 28 markets. As at 31 December 2020, it had £367 billion of assets under management and administration, around 5 million retail customers and more than 800 institutional clients.
With a heritage dating back more than 170 years, M&G plc has a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions. We serve our savings and insurance customers under the Prudential brand in the UK and Europe and for asset management in South Africa, and under the M&G Investments brand for asset management clients globally.
M&G has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions on its total book of assets under management and administration by 2050 and committed to reduce operational carbon emissions as a corporate entity to net zero by 2030.
Media contacts:
Katja Stout, Scius Communications (EU)
Direct: +44 (0) 7789 435 990
Email: katja@sciuscommunications.com
Ryo Imai / Robert Flamm, Ph.D. (US)
Burns McClellan, Inc.
+1 212-213-0006 ext. 315 / 364
Email: Rimai@burnsmc.com / rflamm@burnsmc.com
Henry Hodge, Vaccitech
Direct: +44 (0) 7533 421 442
Email: henry.hodge@vaccitech.co.uk