Vaxxas CEO David Hoey recognised by American Chamber of Commerce in Australia for bilateral collaboration in biotechnology

November 15, 2024

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and Cambridge, Mass., USA

Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a needle-free vaccination technology, is delighted to announce that the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Australia has recognised Vaxxas Chief Executive Officer and President David Hoey with the 2024 AmCham Alliance Award for Excellence in Biotechnology.

Attended by over 600 proponents of the partnership between Australia and the United States, including United States Ambassador to Australia The Hon. Caroline Kennedy, AmCham Australia Chair Dr Larry Marshall and AmCham Australia CEO April Palmerlee, the Gala event in Sydney celebrated the pathfinders in industries of AI, Biotechnology, Digital Economy, Clean Energy, Quantum, and Space, who are shaping future economic collaboration between the two countries.

Since its inception in 2011, Vaxxas has forged partnerships with the US Government and US-based industry and philanthropic organisations including the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation to develop its needle-free vaccination technology platform, the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP).

Designed to provide an alternative to the 170-year-old needle and syringe for vaccination, Vaxxas’ HD-MAP technology uses a small patch with thousands of vaccine-coated microprojections to deliver vaccine to the abundant immune cells directly below the skin surface.

Upon accepting the award, Vaxxas CEO and President David Hoey said, “There aren’t too many jobs where you can get up every day knowing that the work you’re doing has the potential to positively impact the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. That’s what we are striving for at Vaxxas.

“As vaccines coated on a patch don’t require refrigeration and are easy to apply, it means that with the HD-MAP, we have the potential to extend vaccine access to remote areas that are very difficult, or in some cases impossible, to access with needle and syringe. This underpins the work we do with global philanthropic organisations like the Gates Foundation and the World Health Organisation,” said Hoey.

Vaxxas’ HD-MAP technology has completed five successful Phase I clinical trials involving over 500 participants with vaccines that address some of the world’s biggest health challenges including COVID-19, flu, and measles and rubella. Vaxxas is currently conducting its first US IND-enabled Phase I clinical study for a pre-pandemic influenza vaccine involving 258 participants, with funding from the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

“We are proud to be working closely with the US Government and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) as we aim to enable pandemic vaccines to be distributed more efficiently. As we know, the speed in which populations are vaccinated can have a profound positive impact on public health,” Hoey said. A whitepaper by world-leading healthcare strategy firm Avalere found that the deployment of MAP technology in the US in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic could have resulted in 16.3 million fewer cases, 200,000 fewer deaths and the pandemic duration being reduced by 150 days. Globally, Avalere reported that MAP technology could have resulted in savings to the economy of up to $2.3 trillion.

Hoey added, “Vaxxas has grown from a team of just six people to a highly skilled workforce of over 150 scientists, engineers, and quality and regulatory professionals, who all work tirelessly to support the development of our technology which we believe will have a profound impact on global public health. I am proud to share this recognition with them.”

Vaxxas aims to distribute the world’s first commercially available vaccine patches from its global headquarters and state of the art biomedical facility in Brisbane in the next three to five years.

For all media enquiries, please contact:

Australia

Amy Miller

WE Communications

+61 431 072 422

amymi@we-worldwide.com

United States

Kathryn Morris

The Yates Network

+1 914 204 6412

kathryn@theyatesnetwork.com

About Vaxxas

Vaxxas is a privately held biotechnology company focused on enhancing the performance of existing and next-generation vaccines with its proprietary high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP). Vaxxas is targeting initial applications in infectious diseases and oncology.


With success in several completed human clinical trials involving more than 500 participants; additional ongoing Phase I clinical studies for seasonal influenza and COVID-19; and other vaccine studies targeting pandemic influenza, with funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vaxxas’ HD-MAP vaccine delivery platform is advancing toward commercialisation.

Vaxxas’ core technology was initially developed at The University of Queensland (UQ), and the company was established as a start-up in 2011 by UQ’s commercialisation group UniQuest. The company was founded with the completion of an initial equity financing led by OneVentures Innovation Fund I with co-investors Brandon Capital Partners and US-based HealthCare Ventures, followed by further financing led by OneVentures, joined by UQ.

OneVentures Innovation Fund I and Brandon BioCatalyst are supported by the Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program. The IIF is an Australian Government venture capital initiative that provides investment capital and managerial expertise through licensed venture capital fund managers to investee companies. Learn more at One-Ventures and Brandon Capital.

About HD-MAP needle-free vaccines

The Vaxxas high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) is comprised of thousands of microscopic projections moulded into a small patch. Each microprojection is ‘printed’ with a small dose of vaccine in a dried formulation. When applied to the skin, the patch delivers the vaccine to the abundant immune cells that naturally reside immediately below the skin surface.


HD-MAP vaccine delivery has the potential to overcome challenges faced by traditional needle and syringe delivery of vaccines. For example, the dried form of the vaccine has been shown in early clinical studies to be more stable at higher temperatures than vaccines in liquid formulations, potentially reducing the need for cold-chain storage and distribution1
.

Previous studies have also shown the safety and tolerability of Vaxxas’ HD-MAP for use in vaccine delivery, and inducing equal or greater immune responses to injected vaccines at lower doses1. Compared with needle and syringe systems, HD-MAP vaccines are designed to be easier to administer and have potential use in future pandemic responses.

About the AmCham Alliance Awards

The AmCham Alliance Awards were inaugurated in 2021 to identify the pathfinders in the industries that will shape the future economic collaboration between Australia and the United States.

These industries include Artificial Intelligence, Biotechnology, Digital Economy, Clean Energy, Quantum, and Space.

Within these fields, the AmCham Alliance Awards recognise and celebrate emerging and exceptional leaders in the first two-thirds of their careers – the next generation of Australian and American pioneers on the technological frontiers, creating economic prosperity and building people-to-people engagement in the Alliance.

Caution

The Vaxxas HD-MAP delivered vaccines are under investigation and available only for investigational uses. They are not available anywhere in the world for sale or purchase. As such, Vaxxas makes no claim that the vaccines are reliable, durable, dependable, safe, or effective, and makes no claim that it is superior to any other vaccine or vaccine delivery technology.


References


1 Baker, B., Hacker, E., Siller, G., Lee, M., Mursaliyev, N., & Forster, A. (2023). Evaluation of the self-administration potential of high-density microarray patches to human skin: A preliminary study. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 19(1).
https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2023.2189409