What ViroVax does

ViroVax LLC is a privately held biotechnology company founded in 2019 by Dr. Sunil David and headquartered at KU Innovation Park in Lawrence, Kansas. The company is focused on the research and development of vaccines, adjuvants, and therapeutics to address infectious diseases including SARS-CoV-2, flaviviruses (West Nile, Dengue, Zika), influenza, and Mpox. Its core technical asset is Alhydroxiquim-II, an aluminum hydroxide-based TLR7/8 agonist adjuvant in which a small molecule is conjugated to alum and, after injection, releases into lymph nodes to activate TLR7 and TLR8 receptors — making it the first adjuvant in an authorized vaccine against an infectious disease to activate both receptors.

The company operates two interconnected programs: an Adjuvant Discovery Program (early-stage high-throughput screening, mechanism-of-action studies, SAR-guided medicinal chemistry, and animal-model validation) and an Adjuvant Development Program (immunological characterization and IND-enabling work targeting flaviviruses and COVID-19). ViroVax is supported by NIAID contract HHSN272201800049C as part of the NIH Adjuvant Development Program that has funded the founder's research since 2009.

ViroVax's business model is B2B technology licensing: it licenses Alhydroxiquim-II to pharmaceutical manufacturers for incorporation into their vaccine products, with the principal license being to Bharat Biotech for COVAXIN (India's first COVID-19 vaccine), which has been used in over 300 million doses and authorized in India and more than a dozen other countries. A secondary revenue stream consists of NIH/NIAID government research contracts. The company is small (1–10 employees), founder-controlled, with no disclosed private equity or venture capital backing, and serves large pharmaceutical companies and global public health buyers.

Name

ViroVax

Legal name

ViroVax LLC

Website

https://virovaxllc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ViroVax LLC is a privately held biotech that develops TLR7/8 agonist vaccine adjuvants and infectious-disease therapeutics, licensing its flagship Alhydroxiquim-II adjuvant to pharmaceutical manufacturers — most notably Bharat Biotech for the COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccine — while funding R&D through NIAID contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vaccine Adjuvants

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Vaccine Adjuvants & Formulation Systems (HLAIAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Clinical Development & Regulatory for Vaccines (trials, pharmacovigilance, lot release) (HLAAAEAK), Infectious Disease & Pandemic Preparedness Vaccines (emerging pathogens) (HLAAAEAC), Vaccine Technology Platforms (mRNA, viral vector, protein subunit, inactivated/live-attenuated, VLP, DNA) (HLAAAEAD)

Keywords

• Vaccine adjuvants
• TLR7/8 agonists
• Infectious disease vaccines
• Biotechnology licensing
• Innate immunity

Headquarters

HQ city

Lawrence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Adjuvant Technology Licensing: ViroVax licenses its proprietary adjuvant technology (Alhydroxiquim-II) to pharmaceutical companies for use in their vaccine products. The company receives licensing fees and potentially royalties from vaccine sales.
2. Government Research Contracts: ViroVax is supported by NIH/NIAID contract HHSN272201800049C. The company also received supplemental funding for COVID-19 subunit vaccine development and antiviral therapeutics discovery.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ViroVax is a biotechnology company that discovers, develops, and licenses proprietary vaccine adjuvant technology to pharmaceutical companies for incorporation into commercial vaccine products. Its flagship asset is Alhydroxiquim-II, an aluminum hydroxide-based TLR7/8 agonist adjuvant that enhances and prolongs immune responses to vaccine antigens and is licensed to Bharat Biotech for use in the COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccine. The company also conducts R&D on subunit vaccines and antiviral therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2, flaviviruses (Zika, West Nile, Dengue), influenza, and Mpox.

Product overview

ViroVax is a biotechnology company founded in 2019 by Dr. Sunil David that operates two interconnected R&D programs: the Adjuvant Discovery Program for early-stage screening and characterization of novel vaccine adjuvants, and the Adjuvant Development Program for immunological characterization and IND-enabling studies. The company's flagship product is Alhydroxiquim-II, a TLR7/8 agonist adjuvant that has been deployed in over 300 million doses of COVAXIN COVID-19 vaccine. ViroVax's pipeline includes vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, flaviviruses (Zika, West Nile, Dengue), influenza, and Mpox, as well as therapeutic candidates for infectious diseases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Alhydroxiquim-II Alhydroxiquim-II is an aluminum hydroxide-based TLR7/8 agonist vaccine adjuvant discovered and developed at ViroVax. It comprises a small molecule attached to Alhydrogel (alum); after injection, the molecule travels to the lymph nodes where it detaches and activates TLR7 and TLR8 receptors, enhancing and prolonging immune responses to co-administered vaccine antigens. It is the first adjuvant in an authorized vaccine against an infectious disease to activate both TLR7 and TLR8. Licensed to pharmaceutical manufacturers (notably Bharat Biotech for COVAXIN) for incorporation into commercial vaccine products.

Quantifiable outcome

• 78% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 disease, 100% efficacy against severe COVID-19 including hospitalization, 70% efficacy against asymptomatic infection

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Bharat Biotech International LimitedcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 28 September 2020ViroVax licensed its adjuvant Alhydroxiquim-II to Bharat Biotech for use in India's first COVID-19 vaccine (COVAXIN) approved for human trials. Bharat Biotech partnered with ICMR to produce the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine formulated with ViroVax's adjuvant. The partnership was initiated during a 2019 meeting in India coordinated by NIAID Office of Global Research under the Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program.
• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019ICMR partnered with Bharat Biotech on the development of COVAXIN, which uses ViroVax's adjuvant technology. ICMR's National Institute of Virology (NIV) isolated the SARS-CoV-2 strain used in the vaccine.
• NIAID Office of Global Research / Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action ProgrammajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019NIAID coordinated a 2019 meeting in India where ViroVax connected with Bharat Biotech. The delegation included NIAID-funded adjuvant investigators and visited four leading biotechnology companies to discuss potential collaborations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CSL Seqirus: CSL Seqirus produces MF59-adjuvanted influenza vaccines and is a major global vaccine manufacturer. Overlaps with ViroVax's pipeline focus on influenza and pandemic preparedness adjuvants.
• Moderna: Moderna developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and is expanding into influenza, RSV, and other infectious diseases. While platform-different, it overlaps with ViroVax in developing vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and emerging pathogens.
• BioNTech: BioNTech developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and is expanding into infectious-disease and oncology vaccines. Comparable to ViroVax in targeting infectious diseases with novel immune-activation technology, though at vastly greater scale.
• Sanofi Pasteur: Sanofi Pasteur is a global vaccine manufacturer with adjuvant-containing influenza and flavivirus vaccines. As an incumbent, it competes with ViroVax in the infectious-disease vaccine adjuvant space and could be a potential licensing partner.
• GSK (Vaccines / Adjuvant Systems): GSK's vaccine division markets proprietary adjuvant systems (AS01, AS03, AS04) used in Shingrix, Cervarix, and pandemic influenza vaccines. As a large incumbent, GSK competes with ViroVax in licensing TLR/innate-immune-targeting adjuvant technology to vaccine developers.

Emerging players

• Inovio Pharmaceuticals: Inovio develops DNA-based vaccines and immunotherapies with proprietary adjuvants/delivery technology. Comparable to ViroVax as a smaller infectious-disease vaccine biotech focused on novel immune-activation approaches.
• CureVac: CureVac develops mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics for infectious diseases. Comparable to ViroVax as a smaller biotech with an immune-activation platform applied to infectious-disease vaccines.

Direct peers

• Bharat Biotech: Bharat Biotech is ViroVax's licensee for Alhydroxiquim-II in COVAXIN and a global vaccine developer with its own adjuvant and inactivated-virus vaccine platforms. Directly comparable as a developer of adjuvanted vaccines against infectious diseases.
• Novavax: Novavax develops recombinant protein subunit vaccines and proprietary adjuvants (Matrix-M) used in its own Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine and licensed to partners. Comparable to ViroVax in combining novel adjuvant technology with infectious-disease vaccine development.
• Dynavax Technologies: Dynavax is a vaccine adjuvant biotech that developed CpG 1018, used in HEPLISAV-B and licensed to other vaccine developers including for COVID-19. Like ViroVax, it operates an adjuvant-discovery and licensing business model serving the infectious-disease vaccine market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ViroVax