Maxvax has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the development of a low-cost HPV therapeutic vaccine candidate, aligning with global efforts to address the challenges posed by HPV infection that can lead to cervical cancer.

Maxvax’s strategy aims to develop, license and introduce an affordable therapeutic HPV vaccine that could accelerate the World Health Organization (WHO) goal to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem.

With the support from the foundation, Maxvax will focus on preclinical studies to refine its recombinant HPV therapeutic vaccine candidate that incorporates Maxvax’s novel adjuvant technology. The primary objective is to optimize the antigen constructs and formulation, in order to maximize the probability of success in subsequent clinical trials.

About HPV infection and Cervical Cancer:

Data from WHO indicate that cancers resulting from HPV infections represent approximately 5% of all cancers globally. Each year, an estimated 604,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed, leading to an estimated 342,000 deaths in 2020 alone, with the highest burden of morbidity and mortality concentrated in low-resource settings.

Although safe and highly effective prophylactic HPV vaccines are being rolled out globally, these vaccines are not effective in individuals that are already infected with HPV and most cases of cervical cancer occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that have not yet introduced these vaccines into routine immunization. This, together with limited access to cervical cancer screening in many parts of the world, means that a therapeutic HPV could have considerable public health impact, particularly in LMICs. Maxvax’s therapeutic vaccine candidate targets the most common cervical cancer-causing HPV types and is designed to be impactful and affordable, and meet the needs of LMICs.

About Maxvax

Maxvax is an international biopharmaceutical enterprise dedicated to the development of innovative vaccines for the prevention and treatment of life-threatening infectious diseases and cancer. We have R&D centers and business teams in the Chinese cities of Chengdu, Shanghai and Hangzhou, and in Seattle, the United States. The industrial scale manufacturing facility is located in the Lin-gang Special Area of Shanghai. Maxvax focuses on vaccines with the potential for high public health impact, and has established a diverse product pipeline that includes two vaccine candidates in Phase 2 clinical evaluation.