Codagenix

Codagenix employs a proprietary technology platform for the construction of live attenuated viral vaccines for multiple targets.

Codagenix Inc. utilizes our breakthrough platform technology termed SAVE to construct live-attenuated viral vaccines against multiple targets. All live-attenuated vaccines that are currently used in the clinic were developed using a trial-and-error based method developed in the 1880s, pre-dating the discovery of the DNA double helix. Codagenix presents a breakthrough approach to live-attenuated vaccine design- were no longer would a vaccine developer blindly passage their target virus to construct a vaccine. The SAVE platform relies on synthetic biology and the “re-designing” of a target virus’s entire genome to yield a vaccine strain (Coleman JR. Science 2008; Muller SM. Nature Biotechnology 2010). This customization process uses software-based algorithms to ‘re-code’ the genome of a target virus. This genomic ‘re-coding’ results in a virus that is antigenically 100% identical (i.e. looks exactly like the wild-type, virulent strain) but possesses a genome that renders it attenuated in the host. The proteins of the SAVE-designed vaccine strain are one hundred percent identical to the virulent strain and as a result animals vaccinated with SAVE-designed vaccines develop a robust and protective immune response. SAVE is a platform technology that has had preliminary success constructing vaccine candidates for multiple, unrelated targets viruses. SAVE is an up-stream approach to vaccine construction. The science behind the SAVE ‘re-design’ targets a fundamental process of all viruses and thus it is viewed as platform that could yield a pipeline of candidate vaccine strains against multiple targets that include: Influenza A virus, Dengue Virus, Respiratory Syncytial virus, poliovirus, and others. The first candidate virus in our pipeline is a live-attenuated Influenza A virus vaccine (LAIV), particularly the seasonal 2009 H1N1 Influenza A virus (referred to as “swine flu”). This candidate of our pipeline has been initially supported by a small business grant for $551,000 from the NIH that is eligible for $3.5 million based on success. Despite the availability of seasonal vaccines, Influenza still has a substantial impact on human health. Based on our approach and preclinical findings, Codagenix has the view that once in the market a SAVE-designed LAIV will prove superior to currently available seasonal flu vaccines. Aside from Influenza spreading around the world in seasonal epidemics, killing thousands of people annually, there is also a fear of a pandemic arising from an avian H5N1strain. An additional view of Codagenix is that SAVE can offer a rapid design of a highly immunogenic, anti-H5N1 vaccine should the need arise. The majority of seasonal Influenza A vaccines currently in the market at present are mostly composed of inactivated (killed) virus particles that can result in a inadequate immune response. There is an ever-growing demand in the market for influenza vaccines, thus an improved LAIV could capture significant market share of what is estimated to be a $6 billion market. In the US this market has been growing with compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% and it is projected to retain a CAGR of 9% until 2015, at which the total market value would reach $15 billion. The current business plan of Codagenix has two focuses – to prepare our LAIV for clinical testing and to further demonstrate that SAVE is a platform technology for vaccine development by expanding our pre-clinical pipeline to include other targets such as Dengue virus and RSV.