LONDON– Baseimmune, a biotech company that uses proprietary, deep learning AI to predict future pathogen mutations to generate novel vaccines, announced the close of $11.3 million [£9 million] in Series A funding led by new investors MSD Global Health Innovation Fund and IQ Capital, with participation from existing investors including Hoxton Ventures, Creator Fund, Beast Ventures and Maki.vc.
“We’re thrilled to have the support of a top-tier investor syndicate led by MSD Global Health Innovation Fund and IQ Capital. This funding will enable us to accelerate the development of our technology, scale our programs, and expedite the delivery of impactful vaccines against future pathogens,” said Joshua Blight, CEO & Co-Founder, Baseimmune. “We are more excited than ever about the possibilities and remain focused in our commitment to disrupting the future of pandemic readiness.”
The funding will enable Baseimmune to accelerate development of its three vaccine candidates currently in preclinical development for African swine fever, coronavirus, and malaria. The company will also use the new capital to further advance its technology, expand its team, increase the number of programs in development and accelerate new vaccine programs.
Baseimmune was founded in 2019 by Joshua Blight and Ariane Gomes, who met while doing their PhDs at the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, and software engineer Phillip Kemlo who built the antigen design platform. Baseimmune’s vaccine design algorithm crunches genomic, epidemiological, immunological, clinical and evolutionary data together to create entirely new synthetic antigenic proteins containing the parts of the pathogen that are most likely to evoke a strong protective immune response.
The technology is based on a computational platform deciphering pathogen evolution to design cross-protective vaccines. By using big data and a design algorithm, Baseimmune has been able to shorten the time it takes to develop a vaccine candidate. The antigen designs can be fed into any vaccine technology platform, including mRNA, DNA and viral vectors, to create universal “future-proof” vaccines engineered to be effective against current and potentially emerging variants.
“We believe Baseimmune’s technology marks a significant advancement in proactive, adaptable vaccine solutions,” said David M. Rubin, Managing Director, MSD Global Health Innovation Fund. “We are excited to support this forward-looking team.”
At the core of every vaccine lies the antigen, a key pathogen-derived component. Baseimmune’s proprietary AI algorithm goes beyond conventional approaches, creating synthetic antigens that encompass all crucial elements of a pathogen, enhancing the likelihood of eliciting a robust immune response. This revolutionary antigen design can seamlessly integrate into any vaccine technology platform for efficient lab testing and streamlined clinical trials.
“We are excited to announce our strategic investment in Baseimmune, a cutting-edge biotech leveraging AI to innovate vaccine therapies,” said Alex Wilson, Partner, IQ Capital. “By using a computational platform and innovative AI prediction algorithm, Baseimmune is pioneering the next generation of universal vaccines against a spectrum of human and animal health threats, from COVID to malaria and African Swine Fever.”
