Morningside Ventures has led a $30m series A round for Emory University spinout Meissa Vaccines, a current resident in Johnson & Johnsons’ JLabs incubator.

Meissa Vaccines, a US-based developer of vaccines for viral respiratory infections based on research at Emory University, completed a $30m series A round yesterday led by Morningside Ventures. Founded in 2014, Meissa’s platform exploits synthetic biology and genetic engineering to rapidly generate vaccines for respiratory conditions. The spinout expects its vaccines will be safer and induce a more efficient immune response than natural pathogens. Meissa advances research by CEO Martin Moore, associate professor at Emory University and director of the Emory Children’s Center for Childhood Infections and Vaccines, and chief scientific officer Roderick Tang, previously a staff scientist at vaccine developer Aviron. The equity financing has been allocated to phase 1 and 2 trials for Meissa’s lead asset, a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, which causes respiratory tract infections and is particularly dangerous in infants and the elderly, potentially leading to pneumonia or bronchitis. The money will also aid the spinout’s ambitions to grow its headcount and build out its pipeline. Meissa Vaccines is a current resident of the JLabs incubator in south San Francisco, part of a network of incubators operated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the pharmaceutical firm’s corporate venturing subsidiary. Isaac Cheng and Stephanie O’Brien, two investment professionals with Morningside, will join Meissa’s board of directors. Meissa Vaccines previously obtained $3.4m in seed capital from unnamed investors in March 2019, adding to an undisclosed amount supplied by venture capital firm FundRx in 2017.

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Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).