Blue Water Vaccines, Inc. Announces Exclusive Rights to Patent Awarded to Oxford University Innovation Limited for the Development of a Universal Influenza Vaccine

CINCINNATI, Sept. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Water Vaccines, Inc. ("BWV" or "Blue Water Vaccines" or "the Company") a biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines, today announced that it has exclusive rights to a United States patent recently awarded to its licensor, Oxford University Innovation Limited. The patent, United States Patent No. 11,123,442, includes claims directed to specific compositions of polypeptides, or epitopes of limited variability, and methods of treating influenza infection with the compositions.

In July 2019, Blue Water Vaccines signed a license agreement with Oxford University Innovation Limited which granted BWV exclusive worldwide patent rights to technology including key polypeptides that Oxford scientists Sunetra Gupta, Ph.D., Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology in the Department of Zoology and Craig Thompson, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford invented. The rights granted are exclusive for the development, use and sale of a vaccine candidate using the epitopes of limited variability. Under the terms of the agreement, Blue Water Vaccines will pay milestone payments, subject to the achievement of certain key development and commercial milestones, and royalties on sales. BWV has exclusive rights to the patent under its license agreement. United States Patent No. 11,123,442 is not projected to expire until at least 2037.

According to the World Health Organization, there are normally more than 1 billion influenza infections leading to 290,000 to 650,000 deaths each year. Current influenza vaccines are incredibly limited, relying on annual review and potential reformulation based upon the predicted circulation of specific strains.

"The CDC reports current vaccine effectiveness ranges from 20% to 60% each year, depending on the recommended strains for inclusion and its correlation to the actual circulating strains," said Joe Hernandez, CEO of BWV. "With our partnership with Oxford University and the award of this new patent, we are one step closer to bringing next generation vaccine technology to the fight against influenza."

"We are making meaningful progress," said Dr. Gupta. "With these methods, now patented in the US, we believe we can change the landscape of vaccines and reduce the number deaths attributable to influenza."

BWV is currently developing a universal influenza vaccine and an H1N1 vaccine candidate that both utilize the epitopes of limited variability that are covered in the patent.

About Blue Water Vaccines

Blue Water Vaccines, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. The company holds the rights to proprietary technology developed at the University of Oxford, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), and St. Jude Children's Hospital. The company has licensed a novel virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine platform from CCHMC to develop vaccines for multiple infectious diseases. Blue Water Vaccines' universal influenza vaccine has the potential to provide lifelong protection from influenza by leveraging epitopes of limited variability in the head domain of the haemagglutinin protein that are naturally targeted by the immune system. The company's Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) live-attenuated vaccine may prevent middle ear infections, known as Acute Otitis Media (AOM), in children and has been shown to prevent colonization of pneumococcus bacteria in the middle ear of animal models. AOM accounts for approximately 20 million physician visits annually in the United States and, globally, AOM caused by pneumococcus accounts for approximately 300 million cases each year. For more information, visit www.bluewatervaccines.com.

Contact Information:

Erin Henderson
Email:  [email protected]

Olipriya Das (media)
Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Blue Water Vaccines, Inc.