Mynvax, the startup focused on biotechnology has raised an undisclosed amount of funds from a group of angel investors, as reported by VCCircle. Former Nokia executive Ajith Sukumaran also participated in the funding round among several others. Mynvax has not disclosed the names of other investors and the amount of investment.
Founded by Raghavan Varadarajan and Gautam Nadig last year, Mynvax focuses on the development of vaccines for influenza. Mynvax was incubated at IIS, Bengaluru and uses recombinant technology to develop influenza vaccines. The product used to create broadly protective vaccines which do not require annual updating.
Ajith Sukumaran, said, “In developed countries, it is almost mandatory to take a flu vaccine every year but in populous countries like India and China, less than 1% of the population takes the vaccine”.
Mr Varadarajan is a biophysicist and a professor at Indian Institute of Science, while Nadig has co-founded Metahelix Life, an agricultural biotechnology startup which was acquired by Rallis India Limited in 2010. The startup focuses on developing vaccines at a large scale and lighting fast speed to reduce to costs and save more lives.
Other players in market dealing with influenza vaccines are Zydus Cadila, Sanofi Pasteur and Abbott. With the backing of scientists and experienced team, Mynvax will be looking to grow its presence and increase its market share in the healthcare industry in India.
Influenza is an infectious disease caused by the influenza virus and affects a large population across the globe causing 6,50,000 annual deaths according to a World Health Organization report.
Ajith is a Harvard Business School alumni and has worked at Nokia as the Head of Strategy Planning. He has invested in two more startups THB, a heathcare tech and anlytic product startup and AstromeTechnologies, a space tech startup working to provide hih-speed internet from space.
