Australia-based Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company commercialising a novel high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) vaccination platform, has announced that the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) has granted the company a license to a next-generation vaccine antigen (DS2), designed for use in prophylactic vaccines against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

Vaxxas’ worldwide license from the NIH enables the company to create the first needle-free, room-temperature stable RSV vaccine to enter clinical studies.

The next-generation DS2 RSV vaccine antigen licensed by Vaxxas was developed by scientists at the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to prompt a more robust and durable immune response against RSV compared to the antigen used in currently approved vaccines (DS-Cav1).

Vaxxas’ HD-MAP vaccine delivery platform is advancing toward commercialisation, with five successful Phase I clinical trials involving more than 500 participants completed, including a second-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate, a HD-MAP delivered flu vaccine showing greater immunogenicity than the approved injectable vaccine comparator, and a measles and rubella vaccine.

With funding from the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), the company is currently conducting its first US IND-enabled Phase I clinical study for a pre-pandemic influenza vaccine involving 258 participants.

Vaxxas plans to progress its needle-free HD-MAP/RSV vaccine to a Phase I clinical study after completing preclinical development of the product.