VaxInnate is a privately-held biotechnology company developing novel, proprietary vaccines for both pandemic and seasonal influenza. The company's breakthrough vaccines are based on its Toll-like receptor (TLR) technology platform, which dramatically improves vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy. Using the TLR technology, vaccines can be produced by simple, low-cost, highly-scalable recombinant DNA techniques, avoiding many of the challenges and pitfalls of egg-based or cell-culture influenza vaccine production. VaxInnate's technology has the potential to significantly improve the cost-effectiveness, manufacturing capacity, and potency of influenza vaccines - key issues facing the clinical and public health communities.

VaxInnate has a BSL2+ laboratory operational within the Cranbury site. VaxInnate also has a collaborative arrangement with an academic institution for access to high level biocontainment facilities (BSL-3 and -4). Since avian influenza requires BSL-3 or -4 facilities, depending on the strain in question, this access enables the VaxInnate to conduct live virus challenges in animal models.

VaxInnate was founded by Ruslan Medzhitov and Richard Flavell, both of Yale University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute and leaders in the field of innate immunity. The company started in 2002 with Michael Sherman serving as Chief Executive Officer and a research team in New Haven , CT. In 2004, the company expanded and established a development team and corporate headquarters in Cranbury , NJ . The company currently has approximately 50 employees including 18 with doctoral degrees.

Currently, VaxInnate occupies approximately 20,000 square feet of laboratory and office space in Cranbury , NJ. This includes molecular and cell biology labs, cell culture facilities, a protein pilot plant and analytical laboratory space.

VaxInnate has raised approximately $80 million to date and is backed by well-known venture capital firms, including HealthCare Ventures, Oxford Bioscience Partners LLC, MedImmune Ventures, Inc., CHL Medical Partners, New Leaf Venture Partners, Canaan Partners and The Wellcome Trust.