Tagged: biodefense
2 results
Dynavax Technologies
Dynavax Technologies is an Emeryville, California biopharmaceutical company built around CpG 1018, a proprietary vaccine adjuvant that sharpens the immune system's response. Its flagship product, HEPLISAV-B, is the first and only two-dose adult hepatitis B vaccine approved in the U.S. and Europe, and had grown to roughly 44% U.S. market share by the end of 2024. Beyond hepatitis B, Dynavax licenses CpG 1018 to other vaccine developers - most visibly as an ingredient in several COVID-19 vaccines - and has advanced its own pipeline in shingles, plague, pandemic influenza, and Lyme disease. In December 2025 Sanofi agreed to acquire Dynavax for about $2.2 billion; the deal closed in February 2026.
Paratek Pharmaceuticals
Paratek Pharmaceuticals is a Boston-based commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company built on tetracycline chemistry to fight drug-resistant bacterial infections. Its flagship antibiotic NUZYRA (omadacycline) is a once-daily oral and IV broad-spectrum drug approved by the FDA in 2018 for community-acquired bacterial pneumonia and acute skin infections, and it is also being developed under a major BARDA contract as a national-stockpile countermeasure against pulmonary anthrax. Paratek also originated SEYSARA (sarecycline) for acne. Now privately held by Gurnet Point Capital and Novo Holdings after a 2023 acquisition, the company positions itself as a defender of public health against the slow-moving pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.