One of Uvax Bio’s three key tech elements is its Universal 1c-SApNP display platform. Illustration from Uvaxbio.com
A Newark vaccine company will spend $8 million to expand in Delaware, adding 63 jobs over the next three years.
Uvax Bio, considered an early stage biopharmaceutical company with cutting-edge vaccine platform technology, has been headquartered in Newark since 2018. where it has five employees.
Its platform has produced both COVID-19 and HIV-1 vaccine candidates.
The new positions will include jobs from research associates to executive-level research directors, with salaries ranging from $45,000 to $130,000.
Helping to fund Uvax Bio’s grown will be a Delaware Jobs Performance Grant of up to $1,061,955 and a Capital Expenditures Grant of up to $240,000 from the Delaware Strategic Fund.
Distribution of funds from the grants are dependent on the company meeting agreed-upon commitments with Delaware’s Council on Development Finance.
“The team at Uvax Bio is passionate about our mission to design and deliver groundbreaking vaccines to address global threats from infectious disease,” said Ji Li, Ph.D., Uvax CEO in a press release. “We are very excited to build a team of talented scientific, business and administrative professionals right here.”
To accommodate its growth, the company has moved to 100 Biddle Ave. in Springside Plaza off Route 40. It plans to renovate the site’s existing wet lab and office space into a facility ideal for developing vaccines that support public health and improve life.
Its platform has produced both COVID-19 and HIV-1 vaccine candidates.
Uvax Bio has partnerships with Newark-based, internationally known industry players such as the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals and the University of Delaware.
The company was formed to develop and commercialize next-generation vaccines to address infectious diseases that threaten global health.
Uvax Bio holds an exclusive license agreement with California-based nonprofit biomedical research facility Scripps Research that covers 11 patented and proprietary 1c-SApNP® vaccines.
The company’s platform technology is based on computational biology and rational design. These cutting-edge scientific tools were used to design the Uvax, an all-in-one, viruslike nanoparticle design and a one-for-all, simple manufacturing process invented by Uvax Bio co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer Jiang Zhu, professor of Scripps Research.
The opportunity for Uvax Bio to take their two lead vaccine candidates for COVID-19 and HIV-1 into Phase 1 trials represents a major milestone for the company.
While the company’s two lead candidates are entering human trials, Uvax plans to raise additional capital in order to advance other promising new vaccine candidates toward Phase 1 readiness.
Betsy Price is a Wilmington freelance writer who has 40 years of experience, including 15 at The News Journal in Delaware.
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