A Cincinnati-based biopharma company has extended a contract with a key research partner as it continues its efforts to develop a universal flu vaccine.
Downtown-headquartered Blue Water Vaccines, which is developing a single-dose vaccine that would provide lifelong protection against all flu strains, among other candidates, said today it signed an amendment to its existing "sponsored research agreement" with the University of Oxford in England.
The amendment will extend funding for research into its universal influenza vaccine candidate, known as BWV-101, for an additional 18 months.
Per its original agreement — signed in December 2019 — Blue Water Vaccines agreed to fund research and development of its universal influenza vaccine at the University of Oxford for a period of three years, ending Dec. 19, 2022. The amendment, as well as additional funding provided by Blue Water Vaccines, will enable Oxford to continue its research of BWV-101, the company said.
Blue Water Vaccines did not disclose the amount of additional funding.
“This work brings us one step closer to a truly universal influenza vaccine, and we look forward to reaching that milestone with our partners at Oxford,” Joe Hernandez, chairman and CEO of Blue Water Vaccines, said in a release.
Blue Water (Nasdaq: BWV), formed in 2018 by Hernandez, is developing several vaccine candidates, including a single-dose vaccine that would provide lifelong protection against all flu strains.
According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 1 billion influenza infections each year. Current influenza vaccines have several shortcomings, including yearly reformulations, Blue Water said. Additionally, the CDC estimates about $87.1 billion is lost through absenteeism and health care costs in the U.S.
Its initial technology was licensed from the University of Oxford. The company now holds the rights to proprietary technology developed at Oxford, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and St. Jude Children's Hospital.
Blue Water is also developing vaccine candidates for norovirus/rotavirus and malaria and streptococcus pneumoniae, designed to prevent middle ear infections, known as acute otitis media, or AOM, in children.
Shares of Blue Water were up 9.2% at time of publication Tuesday.
