DIOSynVax

DIOSynVax, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, was established in 2017 as a spin-out from the University of Cambridge with the support of Cambridge Enterprise, the university's commercialization arm. The company was founded by Professor Jonathan Heeney, the Head of the Laboratory of Viral Zoonotics at the University of Cambridge. Heeney, a Canadian infectious disease scholar with doctorates in Veterinary Medicine, Pathology, and a PhD, brings over 25 years of vaccine development experience to the company. His research has centered on cross-species virus transmission and the co-evolution of viruses and their hosts, which directly informs the company's approach.

The company's core technology is a vaccine development platform named DIOSynVax, which stands for Digitally designed, Immune Optimised Selected and Synthesized Vaccines. This platform utilizes a combination of computational biology, protein structure analysis, AI, and synthetic biology to create Vaccine Antigen Payloads (VAPs). Unlike traditional methods that copy the genetic sequence of a circulating virus, DIOSynVax's approach analyzes the genetic sequences of entire virus families to identify conserved regions that are critical for the virus's life cycle and less likely to mutate. By targeting these stable areas, the resulting vaccines are designed to offer broad protection against existing variants and future strains of a virus, potentially preventing future pandemics. These synthetically generated VAPs can be deployed across various vaccine delivery systems, including mRNA, DNA, and protein-based platforms.

DIOSynVax's business model is focused on the research and development of these next-generation vaccines, targeting global health threats. Its pipeline includes candidates for influenza, viral hemorrhagic fevers (like Ebola and Lassa fever), and coronaviruses. The company's work has attracted significant funding from various organizations, including Innovate UK, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). In March 2022, CEPI invested up to $42 million to support the development of a broadly protective Betacoronavirus vaccine. The company's clients are entities involved in global public health, including governments and international health organizations, with a commitment to enabling equitable access to its vaccines. A notable product in development is DIOS-CoVax, a vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, which has progressed to human clinical trials. This vaccine can be delivered as a powder without a needle, using a jet of air, which could simplify distribution, particularly in low-resource settings.

Keywords: vaccine development, computational biology, synthetic biology, immunoinformatics, pandemic preparedness, universal vaccine, coronaviruses, influenza, hemorrhagic fever, protein structure, antigen design, mRNA vaccine, DNA vaccine, needle-free vaccine, clinical trials, broad protection, zoonotic diseases, University of Cambridge spin-out, Jonathan Heeney, CEPI, viral evolution, next-generation vaccines, immune optimization