$3.2 Million Awarded to Group A Strep Vaccine Candidate

California-based Vaxcyte, Inc. announced an additional award of $3.2 million to advance the development of VAX-A1, a novel vaccine designed to prevent infections caused by Group A Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep) bacteria.

VAX-A1 is a conjugate vaccine candidate designed to confer broad protective immune responses against all subtypes of Group A Strep and be boostable to offer long-lasting protection from infection.

A central component of the vaccine is polyrhamnose, a conserved polysaccharide in the bacterial cell wall, genetically engineered by UC San Diego technology to eliminate an immune epitope implicated in the autoimmune cross-reaction of rheumatic heart disease.

The additional award builds on the CARB-X award of $2.7 million for the initial funding period, which was completed in December 2020. Upon achievement of future VAX-A1 development milestones, Vaxcyte is eligible to receive up to a total of $29.7 million in CARB-X funding, inclusive of grants to date.

“Without a vaccine to prevent Group A Strep, we continue to see a widespread disease that results in high rates of morbidity and mortality as well as antibiotic resistance globally,” said Jeff Fairman, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Co-founder of Vaxcyte, in a press release.

“Our continued collaboration with CARB-X further supports the steps needed to advance VAX-A1, Vaxcyte’s investigational vaccine candidate to prevent infections caused by Group A Strep bacteria, into IND-enabling studies in the second half of 2021.”

Group A Strep is a pervasive disease that results in 700 million cases of illness each year and is one of the leading infectious disease-related causes of death and disability worldwide. The U.S. CDC estimates approximately 11,000 to 24,000 invasive group A strep disease cases occur each year in the USA.

And between 1,200 and 1,900 people die due to invasive group A strep disease annually.

Some of the most serious consequences of Group A Strep include flesh-eating disease (necrotizing fasciitis) and invasive diseases such as sepsis and rheumatic heart disease. However, the majority of Group A Strep cases are pharyngitis, commonly known as strep throat.

Pharyngitis is highly prevalent in school-age children and a significant source of antibiotic prescriptions.

Located in Foster City, CA, Vaxcyte is a next-generation vaccine company seeking to improve global health by developing superior and novel vaccines designed to prevent or treat some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases worldwide. The Company’s cell-free protein synthesis platform, comprising the XpressCFTM platform, exclusively licensed from Sutro Biopharma, Inc.

Note: CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) is a global non-profit partnership dedicated to supporting the early development of antibacterial R&D to address the rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria.