Vaxxas, a clinical-stage biotechnology company commercializing a novel vaccination platform, today announced another key addition to its executive leadership team with the appointment of Doug Cubbin as Chief Financial Officer. Doug joins Vaxxas as the company experiences significant growth and advances toward commercialization of its high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) vaccine delivery technology.

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Vaxxas CFO Doug Cubbin (Photo: Business Wire)

A highly qualified executive leader, Doug has more than 30 years’ experience in finance, M&A, and business development. Most recently, Doug was the Group Chief Financial Officer at Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited, a global ASX 200 biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of diagnostic and therapeutic products.

During his tenure at Telix, Doug helped grow the market capitalization of the business to AU$2.3 billion (US$1.6 billion) and built a global finance team. He was also a key member of the team who successfully completed the Telix IPO, and subsequent capital raises, with a total of AU$270 million (US$180 million) raised. During Doug’s time with Telix, the company made four acquisitions.

Prior to Telix, Doug held roles of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at ANSTO, Executive Chairman of ANSTO Nuclear Medicine, and Chief Financial Officer at DHL Oceania and South Pacific.

"It’s been an incredible period of growth for Vaxxas and we are pleased to be strengthening our team with the appointment of Doug Cubbin as Chief Financial Officer,” Vaxxas Chief Executive Officer David Hoey said. “Doug’s extensive experience spans wide geographical regions, diverse market sectors, and complex regulatory environments, which brings tremendous value as we commercialize our vaccination technology platform.”

Vaxxas Chief Financial Officer Doug Cubbin added, “The opportunity Vaxxas has to introduce a novel solution to traditional vaccination methods is incredibly exciting. I’m thrilled to be joining the business at this critical juncture and look forward to seeing the company continue to grow as we work towards bringing our first vaccination patch to market.”

Doug’s appointment follows the recruitment to Vaxxas of Scott Fry as Chief Operating Officer and Daniel Devine as Chief Business Officer and General Counsel, earlier this year. Scott and Daniel joined Vaxxas from Ellume Limited and Mesoblast Limited, respectively.

Vaxxas continues to experience significant growth and currently employs over 110 people. To support this growth, Vaxxas will move into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility being built by the Queensland Government in Brisbane in early 2023.

About Vaxxas’ HD-MAP technology

The company’s proprietary HD-MAP technology platform utilizes an ultra-high-density array of projections – invisible to the naked human eye – applied to the skin as a patch sitting inside a small applicator device. When applied to the skin, the patch delivers vaccine to the abundant immune cells immediately below the skin surface. This approach has the potential to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of resulting immune responses of vaccines.

Vaxxas uses proprietary dry-coating technology to apply an active and stable vaccine onto the projections which offers the potential to eliminate the need for vaccine refrigeration during storage and transportation – reducing the resource and logistics burden of maintaining the refrigerated “cold chain”. Ease of use of the HD-MAP could enable simplified administration, potentially encompassing self-administration.

Vaxxas' HD-MAP is coated with a vaccine candidate and integrated into a single-use applicator, ready-for-vaccination. All vaccine candidates applied to the Vaxxas HD-MAP are designed to be effective and easy-to-use, while meeting industrial-scale manufacturing and commercial logistics requirements.

In extensive laboratory testing published in PLoS Med, Vaxxas’ HD-MAP delivered vaccines have shown to be stable and remain active when stored and transported at room temperature and demonstrate potential for a lower dose when compared to needle and syringe delivery of vaccine antigens. Vaxxas has completed three human clinical studies with its HD-MAP involving more than 300 participants, demonstrating enhanced immune response of vaccine administration by HD-MAP.

About Vaxxas

Vaxxas is a privately held biotechnology company focused on enhancing the performance of existing and next-generation vaccines with its proprietary high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP). Vaxxas is targeting initial applications in infectious disease and oncology.

A Phase I clinical study of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate on a patch is currently underway. Vaxxas is also preparing for clinical evaluation under contract with the United States Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) on pandemic vaccination solutions.

Vaxxas’ core technology was initially developed at The University of Queensland (UQ), and the company was established as a start-up in 2011 by UQ’s commercialization company UniQuest. The company was founded with the completion of an initial equity financing led by OneVentures Innovation Fund I with co-investors Brandon Capital Partners, Brandon BioCatalyst, and US-based HealthCare Ventures, followed by a further financing led by OneVentures. OneVentures Innovation Fund I and Brandon BioCatalyst are supported by the Australian Government’s Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program. The IIF is an Australian Government venture capital initiative that provides investment capital and managerial expertise through licensed venture capital fund managers to investee companies. Learn more at www.one-ventures.com and www.brandoncapital.vc.

Disclaimer

Vaxxas’ HD-MAP delivered vaccines are under investigation and available only for investigational uses. They are not available anywhere in the world for sale or purchase. As such, Vaxxas makes no claim that the vaccines are reliable, durable, dependable, safe or effective, and makes no claim that it is superior to any other vaccine or vaccine delivery technology.

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