MiniVax, Inc. (MiniVax) is a New Orleans, LA based company that specializes in the research and development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for the treatment and prevention of opportunistic fungal infections. MiniVax, Inc. is a spinout company of Louisiana State University Health and Sciences Center (LSU-HSC) where MiniVax’s co-founder Dr. Jay Kolls developed the vaccine MVX504, which prevents the opportunistic fungal infection Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in immunocompromised individuals.
Patients with impaired immune systems, especially those with advanced cases of HIV/AIDS, are markedly susceptible to a vicious and deadly lung infection, Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP). The symptoms of PCP infection include pneumonia, fever, and respiratory symptoms such as dry cough, chest pain and shortness of breath. Untreated, PCP can result in respiratory failure and death. Unfortunately, the current standard of treatment for PCP, antibiotics, are plagued by side-effects, costly, and are often ineffective. For these reasons, the healthcare market has a strong need for new prevention and treatment options for patients at risk for developing PCP.
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Minivax receives key funding in the form of a National Institutes of Health's National Institute for Allergies and Infections Diseases.
"Dr. Jay Kolls and Dr. Mingquan Zheng have developed a novel antigen derived from Pneumocystis termed “mini-kexin” that results in an effective anti-PCP immune response in both normal and immunodeficient mice"
