Jurata Thin Film, a Houston, TX-based startup focused on stabilizing vaccines at ambient temperature, raised initial investment funds totaling $4.87m.
The round was led by Golden Seeds with participation from Columbus Ventures and Ferocity Capital, as well as UT Seed Investment Fund. Other investors include Jurata’s co-founders Sheila Mikhail, Jude Samulski, PhD, and Dr. Croyle. Current employees have also contributed to the funding.
The company intends to use the funds to design and build a pilot-scale manufacturing line capable of fabricating over 1,000 doses of vaccine- or biologic-loaded thin films per hour and to support the requisite toxicity studies demonstrating safety of its formulation for administration under the tongue (sublingual), inside the cheek (buccal), or through intramuscular injection after rehydration. In addition to scale up and regulatory testing, raised funds will allow the hire of additional R&D personnel to support client evaluation projects and further expand applicability of the technology.
Founded in 2019, Jurata Thin Film is a biotechnology company focused on innovating the way vaccines and biologics are manufactured, distributed, stored, and delivered to all who need them around the world. Its thin films can be stored at room temperature for up to three years while maintaining therapeutic payload potency. Jurata’s process preserves the therapeutic activity of biological pharmaceutics by immobilizing them into a solid film matrix, similar to the way amber can preserve ancient plant and insect specimens trapped within. The technology allows vaccines and other life-saving medications to be stored at room temperature for up to three years.
This technology was originally developed in the laboratory of Maria Croyle, RPh, PhD, a Professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), to deliver Ebola vaccines to populations in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Croyle serves as Jurata’s Chief Scientific Officer, overseeing research and development (R&D) efforts to broaden the applicability of Jurata’s technology.
FinSMEs
29/11/2022