Sentinext Secures US$14 Million For HFMD Vaccine

Sentinext’s latest round of funding will see the development of their hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine to Phase I clinical trials.

AsianScientist (Nov. 13, 2014) – Sentinext Therapeutics, a Malaysian biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines for infectious diseases, has successfully completed a Series B round of financing worth US$14 million.

The proceeds of the fundraise will advance the development of Sentinext’s bivalent virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine against hand, foot & mouth disease (HMFD), which will include a Phase I clinical trial commencing in 2015.

In addition, the Company is advancing its VLP Polio program (in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) and is developing other enterovirus vaccine candidates, including EV68 which has recently been widely reported in the US. The Picorna VLP “Plug and Prepare” platform technology developed by Sentinext permits rapid generation of VLPs for advancement of vaccine candidates against any picorna virus disease of humans and animals.

The new round of financing brings together new investment from Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (MAVCAP) and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), as well as further funding from existing investors: Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund (MLSCF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC). Messrs. Amiruddin Azahar, representing MAVCAP, and Naser Jaffar, representing AIM, will also join the Board of Directors of Sentinext.

Commenting on the fund raise, Mr. David Lawrence, Chief Executive of Sentinext, said: “This is a significant step for our company in the development of our VLP technology platform which has the potential to revolutionize vaccines for several key infectious diseases.”

“VLPs have several important advantages over traditional vaccine approaches. HFMD continues to be a significant problem in China, Japan and SE Asia. Furthermore, our work on a VLP Polio vaccine provides a potential medium to long term solution for the disease.”

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Source: Sentinext Therapeutics.
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