Codagenix raises $20M Series B for continued development of viruses for use as vaccines or solid tumor therapies

Codagenix, is a clinical stage biotechnology startup with vaccine products against influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, dengue virus, has closed $20 million Series B investment round. The round was led by Adjuvant Capital, with participation by Euclidean Capital and Topspin Partners. The funding proceeds 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).

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

Founded in 2011 by Eckard Wimmer, J. Robert Coleman, and Steffen Mueller, the Stony Brook, New York-based  Codagenix is a spinout of the laboratory of National Academy of Science Member Eckard Wimmer at Stony Brook University. Codagenix uses software to recode the genomes of viruses, constructing live-attenuated vaccines or viruses to prevent viral infections or treat solid tumors. Codagenix uses a computer-based algorithm, called SAVE (Synthetic Attenuated Virus Engineering) to design viral genomes that are identical to the wild type strain at the amino acid level, but make less protein in human cells. The highly attenuated viruses make excellent vaccines or oncolytics against solid tumors.

Codagenix represents the next wave in vaccine technology, untethered from traditional, time-consuming and unpredictable approaches to attenuating viruses. Codagenix uses codon deoptimization to synthesize “rationally designed” live attenuated vaccines and oncolytic virotherapies. Since inception seven years ago, Codagenix has  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.

“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.”