Codagenix Receives Additional Award from US Department of Defense to Advance Development of Dengue Vaccine

Award valued at $5.88 million will support activities to advance CodaVax-DENV into the clinic

FARMINGDALE, N.Y., Oct. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Codagenix Inc., a clinical-stage synthetic biology company with a rational virus design platform for viral vaccines and immuno-oncology therapeutics, today announced that the US Department of Defense (DoD), through the US Army Medical Research and Development Command and the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, has awarded the Company $5.88 million to advance the development of its CodaVax-DENV, a tetravalent live attenuated dengue vaccine program. This complements a $4.4 million DoD award granted in 2022 as part of the Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program.

The funds will support good manufacturing practices (GMP) of drug substances and tetravalent drug product for a Phase 1 study, as well as a first-in-human Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity trial.

"We are honored to be selected for this award and would like to thank the DoD for their continued support, which is a recognition of the advantages of CodaVax-DENV, including codon deoptimization, homologous DENV1, 2, 3, 4 strains, and the ability to titrate attenuation to develop balanced immunity," said Jeffrey Fu, Ph.D., Chief Business Officer of Codagenix. "These qualities uniquely position CodaVax-DENV to address the unmet needs in dengue prevention. Dengue is a significant health concern for both our troops as well as civilians in endemic areas abroad, and we look forward to continuing our work to protect vulnerable populations from this disease."

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection for which there are no specific therapies licensed for adults. With over 2.4 billion people living in dengue-endemic areas worldwide, it is a leading cause of serious illness in several Latin American and Asian countries. Codagenix's rational vaccine design platform is well positioned to create a safe and effective dengue vaccine since its codon deoptimization process has the potential to provide immunity against all four-serotypes of the dengue virus in a tetravalent formulation without the use of a backbone virus.

The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014, is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), in the amount of $5,880,000, under Award No. HT94252320048. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. In conducting research using animals, the investigator(s) adheres to the laws of the United States and regulations of the Department of Agriculture. In the conduct of research utilizing recombinant DNA, the investigator adhered to NIH Guidelines for research involving recombinant DNA molecules. In the conduct of research involving hazardous organisms or toxins, the investigator adhered to the CDC-NIH Guide for Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories.

About Codagenix, Inc.

Codagenix is a clinical-stage biotechnology company leading a new era of live vaccines and viral therapeutics. The company's breakthrough platform brings together live-attenuated virus design with cutting-edge codon deoptimization for powerful synthetic biology-based solutions to take on our biggest threats in infectious disease, cancer and animal health. Codagenix was founded based on technology developed in the laboratory of National Academy of Science member Dr. Eckard Wimmer at Stony Brook University; is supported by Adjuvant Capital, TopSpin Partners, and Euclidean Capital; and has ongoing research and license programs with various federal agencies. For more information, visit codagenix.com.

SOURCE Codagenix Inc.