— Amezosvatein has shown excellent immunogenicity and improved tolerability in Phase 2 study
— Medicxi leads round, joined by new investors OrbiMed, HBM Healthcare Investments, and Sanofi Ventures
— Former Chair of GSK’s vaccine business and Chief Scientific Advisor to Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, to join Curevo as Board Chair
Seattle, WA – March 17, 2025 – Curevo Vaccine (Curevo), a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to developing varicella zoster virus (VZV) vaccines with improved tolerability, today announces the closing of a $110 million Series B round to advance development of amezosvatein, its vaccine for shingles.
Leading the round is new investor Medicxi, a European biotech-focused investment firm with significant experience investing in vaccine companies such as Vaxcyte and ViceBio. Joining Medicxi is an international group of investment funds including OrbiMed, HBM Healthcare Investments, and Sanofi Ventures plus existing investors RA Capital Management, Janus Henderson Investors, Adjuvant Capital, and founding investor GC Biopharma.
“This Series B round will fund the extension of our successful Phase 2 program into an additional 640 participants, including the key population of adults over age 70, to finalize dose selection ahead of the Phase 3 program,” said Curevo’s CEO, George Simeon, MBA/MPH. “Designed based upon feedback from regulators and other stakeholders, this short extension trial will begin mid-2025 and serve to set the company for clinical, strategic, and regulatory success.”
Concurrent with the round, Moncef Slaoui, PhD, will join Curevo as Board Chair. Dr. Slaoui was most recently the Chief Scientific Advisor to Operation Warp Speed during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping deliver vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He spent nearly 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline, during which he helped shape its vaccine business by contributing to the creation of numerous new vaccines including Shingrix® (shingles), Cervarix® (HPV-induced cervical cancer), Mosquirix® (malaria), Rotarix® (rotavirus gastroenteritis), and Synflorix® (pneumococcal disease).
“I have been collaborating with the Curevo team for several weeks now,” stated Dr. Slaoui. “I’m very excited to work with them to help perfect shingles vaccination, adding good tolerability to the exceptional efficacy achieved by the current vaccine. The data so far show Curevo’s adjuvant technology has the attributes to succeed in this endeavor.”
Also joining Curevo’s Board of Directors will be Giovanni Mariggi, PhD, co-founder and Partner at Medicxi, an experienced infectious disease investor and board member. “Patients, doctors, and payors are very clear a new shingles vaccine like amezosvatein would be welcome in the global marketplace. Amezosvatein’s activity and improved tolerability profile could allow it to be a significant product in the shingles vaccines market. We are excited to support Curevo’s plan with a streamlined path to approval,” stated Dr. Mariggi.
Tal Zaks, MD/PhD, will be joining Curevo’s Board of Directors on behalf of OrbiMed. Dr. Zaks is the former Chief Medical Officer of Moderna, where he led development of their mRNA vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. He previously held senior leadership positions in drug development at GSK and Sanofi. “OrbiMed has a long history of investing in biotech companies like Curevo seeking to improve healthcare outcomes while creating long-term shareholder value,” said Dr. Zaks. “The fact amezosvatein contains an optimized version of the TLR4 agonist with a known mechanism of action reduces biological risk while providing the competitive advantage of potentially improved tolerability, which should position it as the first choice for people who want to be protected from shingles.”
About amezosvatein
‘Amezosvatein’ is the assigned non-proprietary name for CRV-101, a non-mRNA adjuvanted subunit vaccine under investigation by Curevo. Like Shingrix, amezosvatein uses a subunit protein antigen called glycoprotein ‘E’ (gE). Targeting the gE antigen is proven to elicit a long‑term, protective immune response to prevent shingles. Amezosvatein’s adjuvant contains an optimized version of the TLR4 agonist proven by Shingrix to be biologically active in shingles vaccination. Amezosvatein was engineered to maintain exceptional efficacy and have a best‑in‑class tolerability profile. The SLA-SE adjuvant formulation was developed at Seattle‑based Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) and amezosvatein was licensed from the Mogam Institute for Biomedical Research, a research institute funded by South Korea’s GC Biopharma.
About Curevo
Curevo is a privately held, clinical‑stage biotechnology company based near Seattle dedicated to reducing the burden of infectious disease by developing vaccines with improved tolerability and accessibility. Curevo’s lead product is amezosvatein, a non‑mRNA adjuvanted sub‑unit vaccine to prevent shingles, a serious medical condition involving a painful, blistering skin rash where 10‑18% of people also develop serious, long‑lasting nerve pain. The current $4+ billion shingles vaccine market is characterized by accessibility issues and vaccine hesitancy/dose avoidance related to vaccine tolerability.