The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Awards Vaxess SBIR Phase I Funding to Test Company’s MIMIX Transdermal Patch Platform in Administering GLP-1 RA Therapies

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., October 1, 2024 — Vaxess Technologies, Inc., a biotech company developing a novel transdermal patch technology to transform home delivery of therapies and vaccines, today announced that it has received a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Vaxess will use this funding to build on the company’s existing efforts in GLP-1, exploring how its proprietary MIMIX transdermal patch platform can enable simple and effective GLP-1 RA at-home delivery for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Over 400 million adults worldwide are living with T2D. Despite significant advancements in effective treatments, T2D continues to rise at a concerning rate, and by 2035 it is projected that there will be more than 590 million patients diagnosed globally with this condition — making it one of the costliest chronic health conditions for patients and society. 

“GLP-1 RA therapies have revolutionized the treatment of T2D because they provide substantial reductions in blood sugar levels as well as address the underlying metabolic dysfunction of obesity that both can cause and complicate the management of diabetes,” said Livio Valenti, co-founder and SVP of strategy, operations and business development of Vaxess. “Unfortunately, poor adherence linked to perceived treatment complexity and fears of needles and injections remain a general problem. These barriers highlight the critical need for new modes of GLP-1 RA delivery.” 

Vaxess’s MIMIX platform is a clinically demonstrated, transdermal microarray patch (MAP) characterized by slowly dissolving tips that ‘deploy’ into the dermis following patch application.  The company’s work has demonstrated good compatibility of the GLP-1 RA, semaglutide, with the MIMIX production process. 

Vaxess’s NIDDK grant builds on a number of recent advancements in the company. Vaxess has demonstrated feasibility of GLP-1 delivery, and partnered with leading biopharma companies such as AstraZeneca in mRNA vaccines and others in GLP-1. Additionally, in the first half of 2024, Vaxess raised $12 million to advance GLP-1, continue in vivo work with mRNA, and expand manufacturing process capabilities in support of new partnerships.

About Vaxess

Vaxess Technologies is transforming home delivery of next generation therapies and vaccines.

Vaxess's MIMIX platform combines a proprietary transdermal patch and applicator, capable of delivering a wide range of therapies and vaccines. Advanced biomaterials used for the dissolvable microarray tips enable the greatest levels of dose delivery control and can be modified to deliver different payloads. Additionally, Vaxess’s MIMIX patch does not require refrigeration, enabling delivery to low resource settings.

Vaxess has raised approximately $100 million in grant and venture capital funding from groups such as RA Capital Management, Engine Ventures, GHIC, Mission BioCapital, BARDA, DARPA, NIH, NSF and the Gates Foundation. The company has also generated strong clinical and in vivo proof of concept in the MIMIX platform with a wide range of molecules. For more information, please visit the company website at www.vaxess.com or send additional inquiries to contact@vaxess.com.

Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health under award number R43DK142429 – 01. The content in this release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views or imply endorsement of the National Institutes of Health.