Clinical-stage biotech company Curevo Vaccine has announced the closing of a $26 million Series A1 funding round.
Curevo Vaccine CEO George Simeon said, “Completing this A1 cycle ahead of data from our head-to-head CRV-101 Phase 2b trial against Shingrix is a significant demonstration of our investors’ confidence in the CRV-101 program. 101.
“The $86 million we raised in 2022 significantly extends our cash trail and allows us to pursue our programs more aggressively; we look forward to getting the first data from the phase 2b shingles trial in early 2023.”
The funding round saw participation from Janus Henderson Investors, RA Capital Management, Adjuvant Capital and founding investor GC Biopharma.
GC Biopharma, based in South Korea, specializes in the development and commercialization of vaccines, protein therapies and therapeutic antibodies.
Janus Henderson Investors Portfolio Manager Andy Acker said, “CRV-101 has the potential to demonstrate a favorable safety profile with comparable immunogenicity to Shingrix.
“We were impressed with the Curevo team’s execution of the Phase 2b trial, including the enrollment of 678 patients in just six months, and we look forward to the results. We see significant commercial potential for a shingles vaccine that could match the clinical profile of Shingrix (currently annualized at $3 billion in sales) without manufacturing capacity constraints.
GC Biopharma President EC Huh said, “As Curevo’s longest-standing partner, we are proud to continue supporting accessible vaccines to prevent shingles.
“We look forward to seeing results from the Phase 2 trial of CRV-101 in early 2023.”
A clinical-stage adjuvanted subunit vaccine, CRV-101, is being studied for the prevention of shingles in the elderly.
Shingles is a painful, blistering rash caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus.
About one in ten people with shingles develop nerve pain, which can last for months or even years after the rash goes away.
CRV-101 was specifically designed to generate an optimal immune response while using a smaller amount of adjuvant with the aim of achieving similar efficacy but with fewer side effects than the currently approved shingles vaccine.
In the Phase 1 trial, CRV-101 showed strong immunogenicity measured by humoral and cellular responses with no Grade 3 injection site reactions and a low rate (1.3%) of systemic side effects grade 3.
A phase 2b comparative trial of CRV-101 versus Shingrix has completed enrollment of 678 patients, with data expected in early 2023.
