PopVax can produce GMP-grade mRNA-LNP material at its RNA Foundry in Hyderabad
PopVax, an Indian full-stack biotechnology company developing broadly protective mRNA vaccines using machine learning-enabled computational protein design, has been awarded $2 million by the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). IKt has become one of the winners of the Concept Stage of BARDA’s Patch Forward Prize for its seasonal influenza vaccine built on a novel mRNA-encoded immunogen display architecture delivered via dissolvable microarray patch. PopVax is developing this vaccine in partnership with Germany’s LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme (LTS), a leading player in transdermal drug delivery.
The Patch Forward Prize is a multi-stage $50 million competition launched by BARDA to accelerate the development of microneedle patch-based RNA vaccines for COVID-19, seasonal influenza, and pandemic influenza. PopVax intends to use the award it has received to expedite the development of its influenza vaccine programmes, including its broadly protective influenza vaccine designed to protect against all key seasonal and pandemic strains in a single shot, leveraging both the LTS microarray patch technology and other delivery modalities.
PopVax’s prize-winning vaccine is built on its mRNA-encoded immunogen display approach, machine learning-enabled immunogen design feedback loop, and lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platform that boost the elicited strain-specific antibody response by as much as 250x in mice in comparison with a leading approved influenza vaccine, leading to significantly lower dosage requirements. The vaccine also elicits a broader immune response, including robust antibody titer against pandemic H5N1 influenza, a rising threat in the United States, despite not encoding an H5N1-specific immunogen.
PopVax has the ability to produce GMP-grade mRNA-LNP material at its RNA Foundry in Hyderabad, which it will combine with the MAP production capabilities of LTS’s GMP facilities in Germany and the US to provide a rapid-response warm-base capacity for vaccines developed as part of this collaboration.
“This award from BARDA is a tremendous honour for the PopVax team and our wonderful partners at LTS Lohmann,” said Soham Sankaran, Founder and CEO, PopVax. “Combining our broadly-protective influenza vaccine technology with the LTS microarray patch for self-administration unlocks a future where individuals can protect themselves from both seasonal and pandemic influenza from the comfort of their own homes via a patch that is delivered straight to their front door, rather than waiting in long lines in crowded places for a vaccine and exposing themselves to further spread of infectious diseases, as happened just a few years ago at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are also excited about the greater thermostability conferred by the microarray patch formulation enhancing the utility of these vaccines in developing countries where below-freezing supply chains are not reliably available.”
PopVax & LTS Lohmann are now working to advance the self-administered patch-delivered seasonal influenza vaccine into preclinical studies this quarter.
