Ames, IA. June 16, 2021. Mazen today announced the successful completion of a sow study designed to demonstrate lactogenic immunity induced protection in newborn pigs after oral vaccination against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, (PEDv). The company is developing orally-delivered animal vaccines administered in the feed that revolutionize animal disease prevention.
In the study, conducted at VRI in Ames, Iowa, gestating sows were vaccinated orally with either the vaccine or a negative control. Four-day-old piglets were then challenged using a proven reproducible and highly virulent PEDv challenge model. Mazen’s oral vaccine was statistically better than the control arm. The statistical difference in mortality between the vaccinated and control groups in this 4 sow-per- group study is consistent with successful efficacy trials for vaccine licensure. Mazen has proposed that an orally delivered vaccine, providing enteric mucosal induced immunity may provide better protection in herds affected by PEDv infection.
“A recently conducted vaccine efficacy trial conducted by our group provided compelling data supporting the efficacy of Mazen Animal Health’s PEDv vaccine constructs.”, said Ryan Saltzman, DVM, VRI Managing Veterinarian. “ VRI has conducted numerous PEDv vaccine trials ever since the introduction of the virus into the US swine population. To date, Mazen’s vaccine constructs appear to be the most promising in regard to improving piglet survivability and condition following a virulent PEDv challenge.”
“These data demonstrate that oral vaccination works,” said Jenny Filbey, CEO and Board Chair of Mazen. “Our team is energized to move the PEDv program forward to commercialization with a robust pipeline in development behind it. We are now well positioned to raise our Series A round.”
The $2M Series Seed, which closed in April, 2021, is funding further regulatory development for Mazen’s lead PEDv vaccine candidate, scale up of pipeline products, and preparations for registration studies. Mazen is raising Series A funding, which will be used to complete the registration studies for licensure of the PEDv oral vaccine, build the pipeline and expand the team and capabilities.
About Mazen Animal Health, Inc.
Mazen is developing orally-delivered animal vaccines that revolutionize animal disease prevention.
Mazen provides elegant solutions to the challenges associated with injectable vaccines and offers customers
(1) increased production system ROI – improving the economic & labor thresholds that control the
vaccination decision today; (2) a safer method of vaccine administration for both animals and workers;
(3) optimized vaccine efficacy including mucosal and systemic coverage; and (4) vaccines with a global reach
because of ambient temperature stability and ease of delivery. Mazen has successfully completed a
lactogenic immunity study with the PEDV oral vaccine candidate and is now planning for registration studies.