Seattle-based shingles vaccine maker Curevo Vaccine has raised a $60 million Series A round.
The funding will help the biotech company develop its shingles vaccine, CRV-101, which completed its phase one clinical trials in April 2020. RA Capital Management led the round, while Adjuvant Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, EN Investment and GC Pharma all participated.
“I’m excited to close this financing and begin working with such a world-class group of investors,” George Simeon, Curevo’s CEO, said in a news release. “This round provides Curevo with funding through topline data from our 678-patient Phase 2b trial of CRV-101, our vaccine for shingles.”
Curevo was founded in 2017. The company has multiple ties to South Korea through partnerships, including with the Mogam Institute for Biomedical Research (MIBR), which is headquartered in Seoul. MIBR is helping Curevo with the design of its vaccines. Investor GC Pharma, meanwhile, is headquartered in South Korea. According to Curevo, GC Pharma specializes in developing vaccines, protein therapies and therapeutic antibodies.
Curevo is also looking into whether CRV-101 can prevent chickenpox in immunocompromised children. According to its website, Curevo is looking for partners on this initiative.
“As investors primarily focused on vaccines, we were impressed by Curevo’s encouraging Phase 1 data and unique sub-unit vaccine technology platform,” Charlie Petty, co-founder and principal at Adjuvant Capital, said in a news release. “The opportunity to bring the first non-live varicella (chickenpox) vaccine to the global community with Curevo’s vaccine technology was also a key motivator behind our investment in the company.”
Seattle-area biotechs have been reeling in impressive funding hauls recently. Redmond-based vaccine maker Inventprise in November received an investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of up to $90 million, contingent on manufacturing, clinical and preclinical milestones. Bellevue-based Viome Life Science, meanwhile, raised $54 million that same month for research aimed at cancer and other chronic illnesses.
