M&G leads $168 million Vaccitech financing with $50 million capital investment

Vaccitech’s platform technology could be used to potentially treat and prevent hepatitis B, human papillomavirus infection and prostate cancer
Vaccitech to use the capital to advance clinical programs with the potential to tackle significant global health problems

M&G plc today announces that it has led the Series B financing round of Vaccitech Ltd (Vaccitech), the company that co-invented a Covid-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford.¹

Vaccitech will use the additional capital to apply its technology platform that was behind the Covid-19 vaccine to progress infectious disease and immuno-oncology programs, including treatments for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and prostate cancer.

The investment has been made by M&G’s newly formed Catalyst team, who are investing up to £5 billion into privately-owned innovative enterprises working to create a more sustainable world. The mandate was awarded last month by the £143 billion Prudential With-Profits Fund, which invests the long-term savings of Prudential’s 5 million UK customers, which includes PruFund².

Vaccitech was co-founded in 2016 by two University of Oxford scientists, Professors Sarah Gilbert and Adrian Hill, when it was spun-out of the University of Oxford’s world-renowned Jenner Institute. They created the key technology underpinning the Covid-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford to ferry genetic material into human cells to trigger immunity.

“Vaccitech is aiming to address serious global public health challenges in both infectious disease and cancer with their T cell inducing immunotherapy platform,” said Jack Daniels, Chief Investment Officer, M&G plc. “We believe their innovative approach, based on foundational research performed at the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford, could provide a solution for many serious diseases.”

“We expect this financing to enable us to reach key value inflection points for our lead programs,” said Bill Enright, CEO of Vaccitech. “We now look forward to advancing key programs towards generating proof-of-concept data in indications in significant need of effective new treatments.”

Download a PDF of the release

Media enquiries

Irene Chambers

Asset Management Media Relations Lead

+44 (0)782 5696815

irene.chambers@mandg.co.uk

Notes to editors

Open1

Vaccitech co-invented a Covid-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford, now approved for use in many territories and exclusively licensed worldwide to AstraZeneca through Oxford University Innovation.

Open2

The Prudential With-Profits Fund is the largest of its kind in the UK, offering investors access to a wide range of assets, across different asset types and countries, to create a diversified portfolio which spreads the risk of investment.

Size of the With-Profits Fund (£143 billion), number of Prudential customers (5 million) and size of Private and Alternative Assets team (£67.2 billion) all as at 31 December 2020.

OpenAbout Catalyst

Catalyst sits within the Private & Alternative Assets business at M&G. With over two decades of experience in private asset investment, M&G already manages over £67.2 billion in private credit, private equity and real estate on behalf of Prudential policyholders and external clients. Drawing on this expertise and track record in private assets, the Catalyst team seeks opportunities across the globe to invest in unlisted businesses which might otherwise struggle to access capital to develop and grow.

OpenAbout M&G plc

M&G plc is an international savings and investments business, managing money for both individual savers and institutional investors in 28 markets. As at 31 December 2020, we had £367 billion of assets under management and administration, around 5 million retail customers and more than 800 institutional clients.

With a heritage dating back more than 170 years, M&G plc has a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions. We serve our savings and insurance customers under the Prudential brand in the UK and Europe and for asset management in South Africa, and under the M&G Investments brand for asset management clients globally.

M&G has committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions on its total book of assets under management and administration by 2050 and committed to reduce operational carbon emissions as a corporate entity to net zero by 2030.

OpenAbout Vaccitech Ltd.

Vaccitech is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of novel immunotherapeutics and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases and cancer.

The company’s proprietary platform comprises modified simian adenoviral vectors, known as ChAdOx1 and ChAdOx2, as well as the well-validated Modified Vaccinia Ankara, or MVA, boost vector, all of which lack the ability to replicate in humans.

The combination of a ChAdOx prime treatment with subsequent MVA boost has consistently generated significantly higher magnitudes of CD8+ T cells compared with other technologies and approaches. The company has a broad pipeline of both clinical and preclinical stage therapeutic programs in viral infections, solid tumors and prophylactic viral vaccine programs.

The company is also co-developing prophylactic products for MERS coronavirus and Herpes Zoster with international collaborators. Vaccitech co-invented a COVID-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford (now known as AZD1222), which is now approved for use in many territories and exclusively licensed worldwide to AstraZeneca through Oxford University Innovation, or OUI. Vaccitech is entitled to receive a share of the milestones and royalty income received by OUI from AstraZeneca.

Vaccitech is backed by leading institutions, including M&G, GV, Sequoia Capital China, Gilead Sciences, Tencent, Korea Investment Partners and Oxford Sciences Innovation.

OpenDisclaimer

This press release reflects the authors’ present opinions reflecting current market conditions; are subject to change without notice; and involve a number of assumptions which may not prove valid. It has been written for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or as a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The services and products herein are available only to investment professionals and are not available to individual investors, who should not rely on this communication. Information given in this document has been obtained from, or based upon, sources believed by us to be reliable and accurate although M&G does not accept liability for the accuracy of the contents.

	You are about to enter the website of M&G Investments, a direct subsidiary of M&G plc. Click here to proceed.
	If you are looking for the affiliates of Prudential Financial, Inc., whose principal place of business is in the United States of America, click here to proceed.
	If you are looking for the affiliates of Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in England and Wales, click here to proceed.
M&G plc, incorporated and registered in England and Wales. Registered office: 10 Fenchurch Avenue, London EC3M 5AG. Registered number 11444019. M&G plc is a holding company, some of whose subsidiaries are authorised and regulated, as applicable, by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. M&G plc is a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in England, and its affiliated companies constitute a leading savings and investments business. M&G plc is the direct parent company of The Prudential Assurance Company Limited. The Prudential Assurance Company Limited is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America or Prudential plc, an international group incorporated in England and Wales.