The grant has been awarded under the Australian Federal Government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI).
In 2021, Vaxxas received AU$4.4m in first round MMI funding to support the specialized infrastructure necessary to manufacture its high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) device at its facility currently under construction at Northshore, Brisbane.
That new site will support late-stage clinical trials and early commercial production. It is due to open in early 2023.
The latest funding will allow the team to develop and establish a sterile production line using proprietary aseptic fill and finish processes, further advancing the company’s vaccine coating, device sealing and quality control technologies.
In addition to relocating its existing workforce of more than 100 employees to the site, the Brisbane facility will support the creation of 29 new highly skilled jobs and the ongoing growth and development of the biotech and MedTech sectors in South-East Queensland, said the developer.
The company’s core technology was initially developed at the University of Queensland.
David Hoey, Vaxxas CEO, told BioPharma-Reporter that the HD-MAP platform can be used with any vaccine. “Clinically, we had more than 300 participants spanning three phase I studies to date (2 x seasonal influenza, 1 x measles-rubella), and we are about to commence a phase I study with an advanced COVID-19 vaccine. In preclinical models, we’ve worked with vaccines for more a dozen disease indications and many different types of vaccine constructs. Much of this work is peer-reviewed and published.”