Raleigh-based Arbovax, Inc., which is developing vaccines against insect-borne viruses, has closed a $1.43 million Series A round of investment funding.
The round was led by Piedmont Angel Networks with additional investment from the Research Development Foundation of Carson City, Nevada and Mario Family Partners.
This investment will allow Arbovax to move forward with its dengue fever virus program. Dengue fever is ranked second, behind malaria, by the World Health Organization for its devastating global impact.
The company was started by British-born entrepreneur Malcolm Thomas with a Business Development Loan for slightly more than $16,000 from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in 2006.
The core technology, developed by Dr. Dennis Brown and Dr. Raquel Hernandez, both of North Carolina State University, provides a platform of improved vaccine technology targeting mosquito-borne diseases including Dengue Fever, Japanese Encephalitis, West Nile Chikungunya and Yellow Fever.