Centivax Lands $37M to Propel Universal Flu Vaccine into Phase 2

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – March 30, 2026 – Centivax, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, today announced it has closed a $37 million oversubscribed financing round, signaling robust investor confidence in its mission to create universal vaccines for some of the world's most challenging diseases. The funding, led by Structure Fund, will accelerate the development of its lead candidate, a universal influenza vaccine, and advance a diverse portfolio of therapies aimed at cancer, malaria, and even Alzheimer's disease.

This capital infusion builds on a previous $45 million Series A round from June 2025 and includes a strategic mix of investors. Participants include Meiji Seika Pharma, which holds the top market share for influenza vaccines in Japan, as well as Sigmas Group, Kendall Capital Partners, and tech visionaries Patrick and John Collison, co-founders of Stripe. The financing underscores Centivax's momentum in a market where many bioscience firms have faced significant headwinds.

Biotech Resilience in a Challenging Market

In a period marked by economic uncertainty that has forced many biotechnology companies to slow down, consolidate, or pause their research, Centivax's ability to secure two oversubscribed financing rounds in less than a year stands out. This success points to the perceived strength of its science and the execution capabilities of its team.

"Centivax's repeated ability to secure oversubscribed financing underscores both the strength of the programs and our leadership in a market where many bioscience companies have been forced to slow, consolidate, or pause amid a constrained funding environment," said Stephanie Wisner, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Centivax. The new capital provides the company with a clear runway to hit critical milestones without the delays often associated with fundraising cycles.

According to Wisner, the funding enables the company to operate based on scientific readiness rather than calendar constraints, a crucial advantage in vaccine development where trials are often tied to seasonal disease patterns. This financial stability allows Centivax to maintain its aggressive development timeline and strengthen its position for future partnerships and commercialization efforts.

The Quest for a Universal Flu Vaccine

The centerpiece of Centivax's work is Centi-Flu 01, a candidate designed to end the annual guesswork of seasonal flu shots. Current influenza vaccines are reformulated twice a year to match circulating strains, but their effectiveness remains a gamble, fluctuating between 10% and 60% and offering no protection against novel pandemic threats. Over the last century, five such pandemics have occurred.

Centi-Flu 01 employs an innovative "epitope-focusing" technology. Instead of targeting the rapidly mutating outer regions of the influenza virus, it directs the body's immune system—both antibodies and T-cells—to attack conserved, stable regions shared across nearly all flu strains. By targeting this viral 'Achilles' heel,' the vaccine aims to provide broad, durable, and reliable protection against both seasonal and pandemic influenza, potentially eliminating the need for annual shots.

This new financing will propel Centi-Flu 01 seamlessly from its ongoing Phase 1 trial into a larger Phase 2 study. The Phase 1 study, which has already enrolled most of its 300-plus participants, is assessing safety and measuring immune responses against a comprehensive panel of 24 different influenza strains. The 500-subject Phase 2 trial, scheduled to begin in early 2027, will be a major inflection point. It is designed to demonstrate statistically robust universal breadth and superiority over currently available seasonal vaccines, particularly against mismatch strains.

Beyond the Flu: A Platform for Universal Immunity

While the universal flu vaccine is its flagship program, Centivax is leveraging its computational immune-engineering platform to tackle a surprisingly diverse range of diseases. The new funding will advance four other promising candidates to clinical readiness, showcasing the platform's versatility.

This follow-on pipeline includes:
* A broad cancer therapy that aims to apply the 'universal target' principle to oncology.
* A malaria vaccine, addressing a devastating global disease for which more effective preventatives are desperately needed.
* A universal antivenom, a program recently detailed in the prestigious journal Cell. This therapy is derived from broadly neutralizing antibodies found in a hyper-immunized human donor and has shown promise in animal models against venom from numerous snake species, potentially revolutionizing treatment for a neglected tropical disease that kills over 100,000 people annually.
* A broad Alzheimer's preventative, a novel approach inspired by the work of Centivax's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Jerald Sadoff. Recent research has suggested that his prior work on shingles vaccines is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's, opening a new frontier in preventing neurodegenerative disease by managing viral triggers.

This ambitious portfolio highlights a broader mission: not just preventing acute infections, but also mitigating their long-term consequences, which can include cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration.

Revolutionizing Production and Access

Perhaps one of the most critical strategic moves enabled by the financing is the deployment of Centivax's scalable, cell-free manufacturing process into a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) setting in 2026. This technology represents a potential paradigm shift in how vaccines and therapies are produced.

Traditional manufacturing relies on living cells, a process that can be slow, costly, and complex. In contrast, cell-free synthesis uses the molecular machinery of the cell in a controlled, open environment. This allows for significantly faster production—often in days instead of weeks—and can produce complex proteins that are toxic to living cells. Dr. Jacob Glanville, Centivax's founder and CEO, noted the new capital empowers the company to "seize control of the means of production" for its entire portfolio.

By industrializing this technology, Centivax aims to reduce the time, cost, and technical risk of moving its candidates from the lab to the clinic. Furthermore, because the components can potentially be freeze-dried and reconstituted on-site, this innovation holds the promise of decentralized manufacturing, a key step toward ensuring faster, more equitable global access to life-saving medicines during future health crises.