About us
Vaxxel is a French start-up, spin off from VirPath laboratory (INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon1 in Lyon, France). Vaxxel has been founded in September 2019 from an initiative of four French and Canadian scientists and was laureate of the i-Lab 2019 award from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and BpiFrance.
Vaxxel develops novel and proprietary live-attenuated vaccine candidates against bronchiolitis and pneumonia caused by pneumoviruses (Human Metapneumovirus HMPV and Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus HRSV). The aim of Vaxxel's technology is to mimic natural infection without causing disease symptoms, while activating humoral and mucosal immunity with an unadjuvanted vaccine.
Monovalent and bivalent live-attenuated viral vaccine candidates are based on the Vaxxel’s proprietary Metavac® vaccine platform which has already demonstrated protective property against Human Metapneumoviruse infection in pre-clinical models. In parallel, Vaxxel is developing a full production and purification pilot process based the patented avian DuckCelt®-T17 cell line adapted to large scale serum-free production in bioreactors.
Pneumovirus infections

Unmet medical need
There are today no licensed vaccine available against hMPV or hRSV (including 46 million children) from these acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), causing mild symptoms to severe pathologies, requiring hospitalizations due to bronchiolitis and pneumonia (US and EU, 2018). Efficacious and safe vaccines against pneumovirus infections would have widespread benefits for public health, alleviating the medical and socio-economic burden of ARTIs.
Science / Technology
Vaxxel R&D program to address the global need in vaccine against pneumoviruses is based on two proprietary technologies :

Metavac® Vaccine platform
From its expertise in virology, Vaxxel developed a proprietary live-attenuated viral platform based on an engineered recombinant HMPV strain. This proprietary Metavac® platform is versatile by modifying its genome in order to express additional viral antigens of interest, such as the F antigen of HRSV.

Bioproduction platform
Vaxxel acquired from Transgene the DuckCelt®-T17 avian cell line, permissive to several viruses, including pneumoviruses and producing high yields of Metavac®-based vaccine candidates, while preserving its immunogenic properties. This cell line growing in suspension and serum-free conditions presents suitable characteristics for industrial scalable production in bioreactor.
Science / Technology
Vaxxel R&D program to address the global need in vaccine against pneumoviruses is based on two proprietary technologies :

Metavac® Vaccine platform
From its expertise in virology, Vaxxel developed a proprietary live-attenuated viral platform based on an engineered recombinant HMPV strain. This proprietary Metavac® platform is versatile by modifying its genome in order to express additional viral antigens of interest, such as the F antigen of HRSV.

Bioproduction platform
Vaxxel acquired from Transgene the DuckCelt®-T17 avian cell line, permissive to several viruses, including pneumoviruses and producing high yields of Metavac®-based vaccine candidates, while preserving its immunogenic properties. This cell line growing in suspension and serum-free conditions presents suitable characteristics for industrial scalable production in bioreactor.
Roadmap
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June 2019
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July 2019
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Sept 2019
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Sept 2019
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May 2020