Vaccitech raises £20M series A

Vaccine company Vaccitech Ltd. (Oxford, U.K.) raised £20 million ($27.5 million) in a series A round co-led by new investors GV and Sequoia China and existing investor Oxford Sciences Innovation. New investor Neptune Ventures also participated in the round. The company has raised a total of £30 million ($41.2 million) since it spun out of the University of Oxford in 2016.

Vaccitech has six products in development that are based on inducing cellular immune responses using non-replicating viral vectors. The company's most advanced candidate, MVA-NP+M1, is in the Phase IIb INVICTUS trial in combination with the annual recommended licensed inactivated influenza vaccine to prevent influenza infection in adults ages 65 and older. The universal flu vaccine comprises two flu virus core proteins and is designed to stimulate T cell activity...