Vaccines can quickly become spoiled when these are not refrigerated, a difficult challenge when these life-saving shots are delivered to healthcare facilities in the developing world. Livio Valenti, co-founder of Vaxess, works with his colleagues in the company to change it.
He co-founded Vaxess with Michael Schrader, Kathryn Kosuda, and Patrick Ho, in December 2012. He is also a fellow at the prestigious Harvard's Center for Business and Government.
The company’s business plan is based on an innovative technology developed by Fiorenzo Omenetto and David Kaplan, professors at Tufts University. The technology uses fibroin, a silk-derived protein, which can stabilize vaccines for storage and shipment sans refrigeration. This eliminates the cold chain in the process, thus, making it easier to transport to places where refrigeration and similar technologies are absent.
Vaxess is also collaborating with vaccine manufacturers in the development of heat-stable vaccines. The company plans its product launch by 2019.
By increasing access to vaccines, Valenti and his colleagues hope to reduce the impact of a wide range of diseases that can be prevented with safe, effective and timely shots.
Vaxess has enjoyed several funding successes since its establishment. In 2012, the Harvard Business School awarded $25,000 to Vaxess as part of its Business Plan Contest in the Business Ventures Track as well as $70,000 in the Harvard President's Challenge in Global Health. The company was also selected as a finalist for the 2013 MassTLC Awards in two categories and semi-finalist for the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition.
In terms of funding, Vaxess has also received capital infusions from Norwich Ventures ($3.74 million) and Jeffrey Walker (undisclosed amount) in May 2013. In December 2013, the company was granted $1 million by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center through its Accelerator Loan Program, a loan that will be used to grow Vaxess’ internal R&D capabilities, among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment