Startup’s ‘Fentanyl Vaccine’ Aims to Block Drug’s Highs, Overdoses
Ovax has raised $10 million to develop and market academic work on addiction treatment.
Fentanyl testing kits for sale at a Tobacco shop in Arizona.
Photographer: Caitlin O'Hara/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A new startup called Ovax Inc. has raised $10 million to develop a vaccine to prevent fentanyl deaths, aiming to commercialize academic research that prevents the drug from reaching the brain.
The startup has licensed intellectual property from researchers at the University of Houston who have successfully tested a fentanyl vaccine in rats. Ovax, which officially launches this week, plans to begin the first human trials of the vaccine early next year. If successful, the vaccine will block users of fentanyl from getting high or overdosing from the drug.