Codagenix Raises $20 Million in Series B Funding for Continued Development of RSV, Influenza and Oncolytic Virus Products

FARMINGDALE, N.Y., Jan. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Codagenix, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing prophylactic vaccines and oncolytic virus therapies, today announced the closing of a $20 million Series B investment round. The new investment was led by Adjuvant Capital, with participation by Euclidean Capital and Topspin Partners. The funds will be used to support the further clinical development of Codagenix's live attenuated RSV vaccine for the elderly, a broadly-protective influenza vaccine and an oncolytic virus therapy for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

Codagenix uses codon deoptimization to synthesize "rationally designed" live attenuated vaccines and oncolytic virotherapies. The Series B funding will enable Codagenix to bring its RSV and influenza vaccines closer to the marketplace while moving its oncology program into Phase I clinical trials. Series B financing will also allow Codagenix to launch two new vaccine development programs targeting neglected public health challenges.

"Compared to the trial-and-error processes used to develop most live attenuated vaccines, the software-driven virus recoding approach used by Codagenix is exactly the type of next-generation, paradigm-shifting technology we strive to finance at Adjuvant," said Glenn Rockman, managing partner at Adjuvant Capital. "With the potential to develop optimized, more affordable versions of existing vaccines, Codagenix is poised to solve persistent public health challenges where existing vaccines have made enormous improvements, but still fall short of desired disease control objectives. Equally exciting, the Codagenix technology has an opportunity to succeed where other immunization attempts have failed. We are proud to be supporting the further clinical development of the company's RSV and influenza programs."

"Codagenix is thrilled to partner with Adjuvant Capital on this next phase of our growth," said Codagenix CEO J. Robert Coleman, PhD, MBA. "Adjuvant's support will allow us to expand and accelerate our synthetic biology platform development, with the ultimate goal of making our technology accessible to all who need it as we demonstrate our ability to rationally design new biologics for diseases that continue to burden public health around the world."

This funding round, combined with Series A investments, brings Codagenix's total funding to $38 million. Previous funders include Topspin Partners, The Stony Brook University Center for Biotechnology and various U.S. government agencies.

About Codagenix

Codagenix is a clinical stage synthetic biology company that uses software to recode the genomes of viruses, constructing live-attenuated vaccines or viruses to prevent viral infections or treat solid tumors. Codagenix's recoded vaccine candidates are a perfect antigenic match to the target virus and induce a robust immune response to all viral antigens. For cancer, our nimble platform allows us to turn a virus into a potential oncolytic immuno-oncology therapies. Both programs rely on scalable, low-cost manufacturing. Codagenix Inc. spun out of the laboratory of National Academy of Science Member Eckard Wimmer at Stony Brook University in 2012. Codagenix is located at the Broad Hollow Bioscience Research Park in Long Island, N.Y. Over the last seven years, Codagenix successfully attracted over $17 million in private and public funding to support development of vaccines and oncolytics. Our programs are supported by TopSpin Partners (Roslyn, N.Y.) and government agencies such as the USDA, NIH/NIAID and the Department of Defense.

For more information, visit www.codagenix.com.

About Adjuvant Capital

Adjuvant is a New York- and San Francisco-based life sciences fund built to accelerate the development of new technologies for the world's most pressing public health challenges. Backed by leading healthcare investors such as the International Finance Corporation, Novartis, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Adjuvant draws upon its global network of scientists, public health experts, biopharmaceutical industry veterans, and development finance professionals to identify new investment opportunities. Adjuvant invests in companies developing promising new vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices for historically overlooked indications such as malaria, cholera, Lassa fever and postpartum hemorrhage, with a commitment to make these interventions accessible to those who need them most in low- and middle-income countries.

For more information, visit www.adjuvantcapital.com.

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SOURCE Codagenix, Inc.