# InvVax

We use a new genetics platform to develop better vaccines for flu, COVID-19, etc

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/invvax
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:130590
- Last updated: 2026-06-22T05:03:42Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-22T18:28:30Z

## Quick facts
- Huge global market for these vaccines: Universal flu - $22B; COVID-19 - $5B
- Chance to make an enormous societal impact
- Patented durable and universal flu vaccine
- Major smashes: Moderna, BioNTech, Novavax: Invest in the next one!
- Backed by Life Science Angels - #1 US angel group (CB Insights), Sand Hill Angels, Tech Coast Angels
- Funded by the DoD and the NSF

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:79868: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:79869: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
*To our knowledge, this is the only universal flu vaccine targeting invariant sequence of influenza, but there could be, in theory, others that we do not know about.Source: Vision Research Reports.To our knowledge, we are the only company focused on invariance. There could be others we do not know about.Forward-looking projections are not guaranteed.Forward-looking projections are not guaranteed.

## FAQ
1. **Given the amount of funding you've raised and the length of time you have been around, what can you offer in the way of confidence of the 36 month strategy to an IPO or partnership (and why those two as a target in 3 years time?). Sorry to sound skeptical but it's a very diffe...**
   - Hi Ethan, of note, we have begun outreach to large pharmaceutical companies seeking partnerships or licensing of our technology, and we have already met with interest from a couple of overseas large Pharma. They would like to see some data comparing mRNA to our viral vector, as the former is such a hot thing right now! (as it is a potent biological tool for vaccines, which I'm sure you know from COVID). We've obtained funding to execute that very experiment, and are already underway! We're co...
2. **Hey Arthur, this is a super cool company. Love what you’re focused on. Congratulations on the recent Duke grant win. Way to go! Would you please consider answering a few questions that I have? I noticed that the intention for some of the money resulting from this capital raise...**
   - Hi Justin, Thanks for these great questions! We've been branching out to other pathogens beside flu virus for a few reasons. First, we've completed all the preclinical proof-of-concept studies for our flu vaccine with the exception of two experiments, which we are going to do with our Duke grant. Since we're outsourcing these mouse studies, and since beyond that point, it's a lot of "waiting" around while our product goes through the long regulatory process, there's a lot of time and opportun...
3. **Hello, As a critical care respiratory therapist, now physician assistant, I have dealt with so many of these respiratory viruses; h1n1, covid, other flu strains dealing with the sickest of patients. This research/tech could be ground breaking if you are able to succeed. You me...**
   - Hi Adam, Sorry for the delayed response. We do have two patents that have been granted for our flu vaccine, which is protecting the eleven sequence stretches in flu which are invariant (cannot be mutated without lethal consequence to virus). These sequence stretches make up the composition of our vaccine, such that it is not susceptible to viral mutational escape like all other flu vaccines are. There are a few possible answers to your question about why we believe we will succeed. First, we ...
4. **Does your patent apply to the technology in general, or just to your flu vaccine?**
   - Hi Michael, Thanks for asking. Our two patents are on the flu vaccine composition. It's very difficult to patent a method these days. However, we've got flu covered because we know no one else is going to find superior (or equal) targets, since we surveyed the whole genome and took the 11 best targets. As for the technological platform, we're underway in applying it to other viruses to meet unmet medical needs. The platform is quite labor-intensive and tricky, which makes it difficult for oth...
5. **Hey Arthur, me again. It was really exciting to see the company's recent update, great work! And thank you for the detailed answer below. Would you mind commenting on how many months of runway InnVax has given it's approximate burn rate going forward? It's unclear to me exactl...**
   - Hey Justin, We're being powered mostly by federal grants right now, so our runway is based on that. We're burning approx. $60k a month, and are guaranteed at least 2.5 more years from grants. But, it's a relatively fluid situation; for example, we expect to receive a new 2 year grant pretty soon.

## Team
- Arthur Young (CEO)
- Nima Shiva (Head of Business Development)
- Olga Petrauskene (Director)

## Recent posts
- InvVax Wefunder campaign closing soon! (2024-04-22T20:05:18Z)
- InvVax makes it first foray into cancer! (2024-04-05T18:40:35Z)
- Critical comparison of optimal flu vaccine modality (2024-03-08T22:30:42Z)
- A new modality: Antibodies as prevention (2024-03-02T19:18:59Z)
- New COVID-19 Vaccine is Subpar (2024-02-08T18:43:55Z)
- KingsCrowd Capital's Investment into InvVax (2024-01-24T18:55:28Z)
- InvVax Video Update (2024-01-17T20:54:10Z)
- InvVax's Year in Review: Pioneering Partnerships, Innovative Research, and Grant Triumphs in 2023 (2024-01-09T19:06:36Z)
- Elevating Impact in Global Health Innovation (2023-12-29T19:55:36Z)
- Exciting Update: InvVax Early Bird Opportunity Extended! (2023-12-06T13:01:38Z)
- InvVax secures Duke U CIVICs grant! (2023-11-29T18:37:56Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Hey Arthur, this is a super cool company. Love what you’re focused on. Congratulations on the recent Duke grant win. Way to go! Would you please consider answering a few questions that I have? I noticed that the intention for some of the money resulting from this capital raise is to expand your work on other viral pathogens. Could you explain why you’re focused on expanding to other viral pathogens when it seems like the development costs of addressing your primary use cases are already extremely high. Why does it make sense to explore other viruses when it may be hard to raise enough capital to develop vaccines for your two evidenced-based primary use cases (the flu and covid)? What is your confidence that the company will be able to continue to raise capital? Are you currently in any discussions with private equity companies and/or individual angel investors? Are you anticipating any further non-dilutive funding? Based on the company self-description, it sounds like the company’s existing burn rate is about 56k per month, but expected to drop to about 40k per month. Is this correct? What is the company’s current burn rate and what is driving the ~16k per month reduction?
  - A: Hi Justin, Thanks for these great questions! We've been branching out to other pathogens beside flu virus for a few reasons. First, we've completed all the preclinical proof-of-concept studies for our flu vaccine with the exception of two experiments, which we are going to do with our Duke grant. Since we're outsourcing these mouse studies, and since beyond that point, it's a lot of "waiting" around while our product goes through the long regulatory process, there's a lot of time and opportunity to do basic R&D on other indications. Second, this other R&D costs orders of magnitude less capital than our flu vaccine, and can be done as we're out raising money for flu without significantly adversely impacting our flu development. Third, we want to position our company to be able to generate IP on invariant targets in other viruses similar to what we did for flu, so that we could have possible opportunities for licensing to Pharma as another revenue stream that could come as or more quickly than flu. We are confident that additional capital will come at a level which will enable us to achieve our goals. We have had a few promising discussions with Big Pharma who are interested in our flu product, and if we could ink a deal here it would be a game-changer. We're eagerly awaiting the experiments under the Duke grant which we hope will raise our prospects on that front. Also, we have other grants that have a strong likelihood of getting funded. We also have a product development endeavor with the NIH that could result in funding for regulated manufacturing for our flu vaccine (the single biggest cost prior to Phase II clinical trials). Calculating monthly burn rate is an inexact science, and to be perfectly candid, it is a little hand-waving at best. We took on another full-time research staff, so the burn rate goes up on that note, but on another note, we just purchased a (quite) expensive mutant library for some antibody work we're doing after which our research expenses will decrease somewhat. And some months are a lot more than others. On average though, we're running through about $50k a month. Hope that helps! Feel free to reach out with any additional questions.
- Q: Hey Arthur, me again. It was really exciting to see the company's recent update, great work! And thank you for the detailed answer below. Would you mind commenting on how many months of runway InnVax has given it's approximate burn rate going forward? It's unclear to me exactly how expenses net out, given various grant funding sources (I'm not familiar with how distributions work or how far along on the timeline the various grants are). Thanks!
  - A: Hey Justin, We're being powered mostly by federal grants right now, so our runway is based on that. We're burning approx. $60k a month, and are guaranteed at least 2.5 more years from grants. But, it's a relatively fluid situation; for example, we expect to receive a new 2 year grant pretty soon.
- Q: Does your patent apply to the technology in general, or just to your flu vaccine?
  - A: Hi Michael, Thanks for asking. Our two patents are on the flu vaccine composition. It's very difficult to patent a method these days. However, we've got flu covered because we know no one else is going to find superior (or equal) targets, since we surveyed the whole genome and took the 11 best targets. As for the technological platform, we're underway in applying it to other viruses to meet unmet medical needs. The platform is quite labor-intensive and tricky, which makes it difficult for other people to repeat it/compete with us just based off of what we published. So, we're pretty confident we have a leg up on any possible competition out there. Hope that answers your question!
- Q: Hello, As a critical care respiratory therapist, now physician assistant, I have dealt with so many of these respiratory viruses; h1n1, covid, other flu strains dealing with the sickest of patients. This research/tech could be ground breaking if you are able to succeed. You mentioned patents, how many patents do you have/what roughly is it protecting? I've heard and seen many pharma companies attempt various things that would be ground breaking, only to not occur. From an investment standpoint, i've seen a fair share of high risk/high reward scenarios. Why will your company suceed/stand out from the other companies out there?
  - A: Hi Adam, Sorry for the delayed response. We do have two patents that have been granted for our flu vaccine, which is protecting the eleven sequence stretches in flu which are invariant (cannot be mutated without lethal consequence to virus). These sequence stretches make up the composition of our vaccine, such that it is not susceptible to viral mutational escape like all other flu vaccines are. There are a few possible answers to your question about why we believe we will succeed. First, we have a clear plan forward for developing our flu vaccine which is based upon extensive preclinical testing in relevant animal models. Second, we are backed by solid federal funding, which is funding not only our flu vaccine but other disease indications. Third, we are in the process of being shepherded by DMID (Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, a branch of the NIH) to develop a Product Development Plan in preparation for regulated manufacturing and clinical trials. Fourth, we have numerous great and innovative ideas for extending our platform to other viruses, and we even have the nondilutive funding which is driving that research. Thus, we are not a "one-trick pony." I hope that answers your questions! Feel free to reply to this reply if you have any more. Happy New Year!
- Q: Given the amount of funding you've raised and the length of time you have been around, what can you offer in the way of confidence of the 36 month strategy to an IPO or partnership (and why those two as a target in 3 years time?). Sorry to sound skeptical but it's a very different market and considering your dilutive and non-dilutive funding, what's changed to make you think this is going to happen more now?
  - A: Hi Ethan, of note, we have begun outreach to large pharmaceutical companies seeking partnerships or licensing of our technology, and we have already met with interest from a couple of overseas large Pharma. They would like to see some data comparing mRNA to our viral vector, as the former is such a hot thing right now! (as it is a potent biological tool for vaccines, which I'm sure you know from COVID). We've obtained funding to execute that very experiment, and are already underway! We're confident that either way the experiment goes we have ammunition to go back to these Pharma cos. to possibly land upon something of great value.
- Q: any updates?
  - A: Hi Adam, thanks for asking and thanks for your support! Apologies for not sending a more recent update. Stay tuned for something in the next few days.
- Q: Hi Mr. Young, My family members and I have made an initial investment of around $5K thus far. While considering investments, we often have discussions regarding deals. We were wondering If the InvVax team is using Ai in their R&D? If so, is it of benefit at this stage? Thank you!
  - A: Hi Michael, Yes, thank you very much for your support! We aren't currently using AI in our R&D, but I get asked this a lot. I think if we were to have someone on our staff, or someone we are associated with, who has experience in this area, it could potentially be of benefit. But, I must admit: I don't know enough about AI to know exactly how it would fit into our company's pathway. But I am open to suggestions!
- Q: Mr. Young, Thank you for response. I have two follow up questions regarding a possible exit scenario: 1) If your company does a Public Offering, what valuation would be your target? 2) If InvVax goes the route of an Acquisition -or- a Big Pharma Licensing Deal followed by an acquisition, What valuation range do you envision as being an acceptable target?
  - A: Hi Michael, An IPO for a vaccine company similar to ours would seek for a valuation in the $200-400M range. For acquisition of the product by Big Pharma, it depends on the stage of our product in its clinical development, but we would likely seek a valuation in the $500M - $1B range. Acquisition of the entire InvVax company would carry a still higher price tag. Hope that helps!
- Q: Hello Mr. Young, My family and I initially invest $3K -$10K in a company that we believe has a strong probability of success. If all goes well, What is your preferred exit strategy and timeline for InvVax? Thank you for your response!
  - A: Hi Michael, Thanks for asking! We envision three different possibilities for an exit for InvVax. First, we could do an IPO either post-Phase 1 clinical trials or post-Phase 2. The former would be around 2027 and the latter around 2028. Second, we could undergo an acquisition by Big Pharma. This would probably be post-Phase 2, so could happen around 2028. Third, we could work out a licensing deal for one or more of our products with Big (or Medium-sized) Pharma. This would be the quickest exit for us, with a possibility of a deal as early as later this year. Of note, these are not mutually exclusive: for example, we could arrange a licensing deal later this year and be acquired by Big Pharm 4 years from now. Hope that answers your question! Feel free to shoot me over any more questions.
- Q: Continued ... So, have you tested the sequences or mRNA sequences in a protein-folded data set? Have you been able to ask for help from Google DeepMind AlphaFold to perform this computation? Have you queried the genomes of possible micro-biomes?
  - A: Our epitopes (vaccine targets) are T cell epitopes, not antibodies, meaning that it is a short linear sequence that is recognized by immune cells rather than a 3-dimensional structure. So, we don't need to consider protein folding. We haven't BLASTed other microbiological species, but we do know that influenza virus has little homology to other organisms other than its close relatives, for example Influenza B virus and Influenza C virus.
- Q: I have a computer engineering background and a few friends are doing bio-informatics. As I understand what you are working on, you have found a sort of set of 'gatekeeper keys' or 'foundation blocks' of genetic sequences that, if these change or are mutated, then critical infrastructure for the virus to operate stops working. You then use mRNA vaccines to teach the immune system to target these sequences that are invariable or, rather, functionally immutable because then you A.) don't need to update the vaccine as regularly, possibly never, and b.) if the immune cells cause damage to this segment, then the virus might go inert more quickly? If I understand this correctly, then my question is: have you looked at the broadest possible human genome to see if any of these sequences you have identified intersect with human genetics or functionality? Would any of these mRNA sequences teach the immune system to target human cells and our microbiome or interfere with any human functionality?
  - A: Hi Justin, Very good questions, and thanks for your support. For the most part, you have it right. Except that, it isn't so much that by targeting these "immutable" sequences immune cells make the virus go inert more quickly -- viruses "go inert" essentially any time a vaccine targets them, it's just that all other flu vaccines target mutable sequences, so if the virus mutates them (thereby escaping the vaccine) it gets along just fine. The InvVax vaccine targets sequences that, were the virus to mutate them, it would self-destruct -- just as you said, because "critical infrastructure for the virus to operate stops working" -- so the virus is unable to mutate around our vaccine. We've BLASTed our vaccine sequences against the human genome (basically you ask the NCBI website to look for sequences that are similar to your query sequence, amongst any species that you want), and none of our sequences closely match human genome sequence. So, we're not too afraid that our vaccine will target human cells. Hope that helps! Feel free to reach out with any add'l questions.
- Q: Hello, how are you? I have a strategy we can implement on your campaign to increase the number of backers and supporters. Please come after me so we can talk about it. https://www.fiverr.com/s/8jjKoo