AstriVax: thermostable, plug-and-play vaccines using plasmids

Backed by V-Bio Ventures and Fund+, AstriVax is aiming to reduce the cold chain requirements and simplify manufacturing of live-attenuated virus vaccines with its plug-and-play DNA plasmid platform.

The Belgian company was co-founded by KU Leuven academics Johan Neyts and Kai Dallmeier, along with CEO Hanne Callewaert, a six-year alum of GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) vaccines. Callewaert told BioCentury that AstriVax’s €30 million ($29.8 million) seed round, announced last month, was the largest-ever financing for a company spun out of the university. ...