The Emeryville biotech that turned one adjuvant into a hepatitis B franchise - and a $2.2 billion exit.
Dynavax Technologies, Emeryville, CA - a vaccine maker whose science outgrew its zip code, photographed as a corporate mark against the record of a 30-year run.
Most people have never heard the word "adjuvant." It is the second, unglamorous half of a vaccine - the ingredient that convinces the immune system to pay attention to the part that teaches it to fight. Dynavax Technologies spent nearly three decades betting that this overlooked chemistry was a business in itself. In February 2026, that bet closed at $15.50 a share.
Headquartered in Emeryville, California - a small city wedged between Oakland and Berkeley - Dynavax built its name on CpG 1018, a proprietary adjuvant that sharpens how vaccines work. From that single molecule it grew two things at once: a commercial product, the two-dose adult hepatitis B vaccine HEPLISAV-B, and a platform it licensed to others, including several COVID-19 vaccine developers during the pandemic. By the end of 2024, HEPLISAV-B held roughly 44% of the U.S. adult hepatitis B market. A year later, Sanofi agreed to buy the whole company for about $2.2 billion.
Dynavax is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures, and commercializes vaccines. Its commercial engine is HEPLISAV-B, which compresses the standard six-month, three-dose hepatitis B regimen into two doses over one month - a practical difference that matters, because many adults never finish a three-shot course. In pivotal trials, HEPLISAV-B delivered higher seroprotection than legacy three-dose vaccines.
Underneath the product sits the platform. CpG 1018 is a TLR9-agonist adjuvant - it mimics bacterial DNA to wake up the innate immune system. Dynavax uses it in its own vaccines and licenses it to other developers, meaning the same chemistry that powers a routine hepatitis B shot ended up inside pandemic-era COVID-19 vaccines dosed by the hundreds of millions.
"Sell the shovel, not just the gold. Dynavax made its own vaccine and licensed its adjuvant to competitors - and both halves paid off."The dual-model logic at the core of Dynavax
Figures approximate; 2024 net product revenue up 26% YoY.
The first and only two-dose adult hepatitis B vaccine approved in the U.S. and Europe, with superior seroprotection versus three-dose regimens.
A proprietary TLR9-agonist adjuvant licensed to other biopharma companies, including for COVID-19 vaccine programs worldwide.
An investigational shingles vaccine for adults 50+, tested head-to-head against GSK's Shingrix in a Phase 1/2 trial.
A CpG 1018-adjuvanted plague vaccine candidate developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense.
An earlier-stage program applying the CpG 1018 platform to pandemic preparedness.
A newer research program extending the adjuvant platform toward tick-borne disease prevention.
Dynavax competes in a market dominated by giants - GSK (Shingrix, Engerix-B), Merck (Recombivax HB), Pfizer, and Moderna. Its edge was never sheer scale. It was a genuinely better product in an unglamorous niche: a two-dose vaccine in a category where the incumbents required three, aimed at a completion problem the market had tolerated for years.
The second differentiator is structural. By licensing CpG 1018, Dynavax turned a competitor's need - a proven adjuvant - into its own revenue line. That platform posture is what made the company attractive to Sanofi, which acquired it to strengthen an adult immunization portfolio spanning hepatitis B, shingles, and pipeline assets.
Incorporated in California (originally as Double Helix Corporation) to pursue toll-like receptor and immunostimulatory DNA science.
Dynavax lists on NASDAQ under the ticker DVAX.
The FDA approves the first two-dose adult hepatitis B vaccine, launching Dynavax's commercial era.
The adjuvant is licensed for multiple COVID-19 vaccine programs; Bain Capital Life Sciences invests.
HEPLISAV-B receives marketing authorization in Europe, widening its addressable market.
HEPLISAV-B reaches ~44% U.S. share and $268M net product revenue; total revenue hits $277.2M.
Dynavax advances shingles and plague, adds influenza and Lyme; in December Sanofi agrees to acquire it for $2.2B.
Sanofi completes the deal in February; Dynavax becomes a wholly owned subsidiary.
Dynavax traces its founding to 1996, with early scientific roots in the Bay Area and co-founders including Dr. Dino Dina, who served as president and CEO in the company's formative years, and immunologist Dr. Lawrence Steinman. In the commercial era, Ryan Spencer has led the company as CEO since 2019, steering it from clinical uncertainty through HEPLISAV-B's rise and, ultimately, the Sanofi acquisition.
"The acquisition brings together Dynavax's hepatitis B vaccine and shingles asset with Sanofi's global scale, development capabilities, and commercial reach."On the strategic rationale for the 2025 deal