Innavac, a biotechnology company spun out of the University of Melbourne that is developing novel, synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists as therapies for the prevention and treatment of respiratory infections, has secured $6.3 million venture capital support from the Brandon Capital managed Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) and Uniseed.
The company said the initial investment by the MRCF and Uniseed will be used to fast-track the development of Innavac’s TLR agonists for the prevention and treatment of respiratory infections in high-risk patient populations with asthma or chronic lung diseases and further support its vaccine adjuvant technology.
"Early studies indicate that Innavac’s TLR agonists are broad-spectrum agents that leverage the innate immune system to prevent respiratory tract viral infections such as cold, flu, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and bacterial infections," said the company.
Innavac R&D activities will be undertaken through a collaboration between Innavac’s founding scientist, Professor David Jackson at the Department of Immunology of the University of Melbourne (Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity), and Dr Nathan Bartlett at the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
According to Innavac CO, Christophe Demaison, “Innavac is looking to transform the way we prevent respiratory infections with an entirely novel product concept. Having the financial support and domain expertise of MRCF and Uniseed is vital for the development of our products. It also highlights the strength of Australian innovation and productivity that comes from true collaboration between leading research teams.”