“This has been a very successful raise for Stablepharma during what can only be described as a challenging fundraising’environment," said Özgür Tuncer, CEO & Executive Director.
"We are now seeing an increased level of interest from investors, partners and large vaccine manufacturers in our fridge-free vaccine technology, StablevaX."
StablevaX is a patented technology platform that converts existing approved vaccines to a fridge-free status, reduces vaccine wastage and the CO2 footprint of the cold-chain.
“This was not a difficult investment decision for us to make," said Johnny Sutton, Founder & Managing Director at Oval Investments.
"Once we engaged with the Stablepharma team, understood the technology and the enormous global impact of fridge-free vaccines, we did not hesitate to progress as the lead investor in this funding round.”
First fridge-free tetanus diphtheria (Td) vaccine
In collaboration with the European vaccine manufacturer BB-NCIPD Ltd (Bul Bio), Stablepharma is developing a fridge-free Td vaccine, following a definitive agreement for the exclusive bulk supply and commercialisation of the vaccine earlier this year.
Stablepharma has the exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute StablevaX-Td globally and will own the global marketing authorisation.
The reformulated StablevaX-Td vaccine has been shown to be thermostable up to 12 months at +45 °C without any degradation of potency.
“This is a landmark event in the manufacturing and distribution of fridge-free vaccines," said Özgür Tuncer.
"By eliminating the need for the cold-chain, fridge-free vaccines could result in substantial health economic savings and expand vaccine access – this is a huge incentive for us to progress our technology across a wide vaccine portfolio with our growing partner base."
Stablepharma have identified more 60 vaccines, suitable for the StablevaX technology that could be converted into fridge-free vaccines. The Leadership Team are already in discussions with a partner regarding a second and potentially, a third vaccine.
mRNA programme progresses
In addition to stabilising the Td and other identified vaccines, Stablepharma have significantly progressed their StablevaX-mRNA-LsNP programme in partnership with the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland.
“We believe fridge-free mRNA/LNP vaccines present a significant growth potential for Stablepharma," said Arcadio Garcia de Castro, Chief Scientific Officer.
"Our research continues, and we are on our way to make further progress with the support of the team at Strathclyde and our science team in Madrid, Spain."
“2022 has been a pivotal year for Stablepharma, not only developing our first fridge-free vaccine but partnering with a global manufacturer to progress GMP manufacturing of the StablevaX-Td product, expanding our team and facilities significantly in the UK and Spain, closing our series A funding round and developing further strategic partnerships with global vaccine companies”, added Özgür Tuncer, CEO & Executive Director.
There are currently no fridge-free vaccine solutions on the marketplace.