$110 Million Funds Shingles Vaccine Candidate

While a U.S. FDA-approved shingles vaccine has been well received in the market and numerous studies indicate it's effective and safe, a non-mRNA adjuvanted subunit vaccine candidate has completed a significant series B financing.

Announced on March 17, 2025, Curevo Vaccine closed a $110 million Series B round to advance the development of Amezosvatein, its vaccine for shingles (varicella-zoster virus).

"This Series B round will fund the extension of our successful Phase 2 program into an additional 640 participants, including the key population of adults over age 70, to finalize dose selection ahead of the Phase 3 program," said Curevo's CEO, George Simeon, MBA/MPH, in a press release.

"Designed based upon feedback from regulators and other stakeholders, this short extension trial will begin mid-2025 and set the company for clinical, strategic, and regulatory success."

The Phase 2 study (NCT05304351) 's primary completion date is March 31, 2025.

Like Shingrix®, amezosvatein, the assigned non-proprietary name for CRV-101, uses a subunit protein antigen called glycoprotein 'E' (gE). Targeting the gE antigen is proven to elicit a long‑term, protective immune response to prevent shingles.

Amezosvatein's adjuvant contains an optimized version of the TLR4 agonist proven by Shingrix to be biologically active in shingles vaccination.

Amezosvatein was engineered to maintain exceptional efficacy and have a best‑in‑class tolerability profile.

The SLA-SE adjuvant formulation was developed at Seattle‑based Access to Advanced Health Institute and amezosvatein was licensed from the Mogam Institute for Biomedical Research, a research institute funded by South Korea's GC Biopharma.

Until a phase 3 study is completed and approved by the FDA, this shingles vaccine candidate will not become commercially available in the U.S. Currently, the U.S. CDC recommends two doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine to prevent shingles and related complications in most people. This vaccine is offered at most pharmacies.

The Shingles Vaccine industry is projected to reach about $7 billion by 2032.