Leading scientists have named Memphis based Vaxent as a finalist for the world’s ”best prophylactic vaccine”, putting the young company head-to-head with pharmaceutical giants Merck & Co., Wyeth, Novartis and Sanofi Pasteur. Vaxent was launched with funding from Innova - MemphisED’s strategy for investing in young, promising companies.
Vaxent has received recognition for a vaccine that tackles the virus that causes infections as common as “strep throat” and as serious as “flesh eating disease.” The vaccine, developed by a professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is in the second phase of early-stage human clinical trials.
Since its opening a year and a half ago, Innova, early stage investment fund for companies with high growth potential in Memphis, has made five equity investments and two loans, resulting in twenty-four new jobs averaging $126,000 per year. Its portfolio companies have also executed 40 intellectual property licenses to secure the use of technology and processes developed elsewhere.
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