26 October 2020

Auckland: New Zealand’s most talent-rich group of vaccine producers, Covid-19 Vaccine Corporation (CVC) will use equity crowdfunding to raise an additional $3.5 million in its efforts to produce New Zealand’s own Covid-19 vaccine.
 
The company will run its campaign on equity crowdfunding platform PledgeMe and is seeking $2 million in investment from the public  and an additional $1.5 million from wholesale investors.
 
CVC’s announcement comes hot on the heels of successfully reaching a major milestone in its vaccine production efforts, which underpinned its entire operation.
 
Earlier in October, the company, which uses unique New Zealand biobead technology, was able to successfully produce its specific vaccine biobead. Without this accomplishment, CVC’s vaccine production efforts would not be viable.
 
“This is massive,” says Chief Executive Dr Robert Feldman. “The big change is that before, everything we were doing was theory. Previously, we had every reason to believe that we could make the beads coated in part of the virus, but now we have done it.”
 
“We now have the material that we need to test for production methods, analysis and develop methods to confirm our vaccine is exactly what we say it is. We have what we need for testing, and if everything goes successfully, we have the ‘mother’ of the actual vaccine we will give to the public,” says Dr Feldman.
 
The company needs the additional investment to progress testing and development. As a result, it is giving every New Zealander the opportunity to get on board “a New Zealand solution for New Zealanders and the rest of the world.”
 
“It was important for us to reach our milestone before going ahead with our crowdfunding campaign. We have shown that we can produce the key component of the vaccine. That allows us to move forward with our plan,” Dr Feldman points out.
 
“So far, CVC has been primarily supported by a handful of private investors. With our latest positive news, we now plan on giving every New Zealander the opportunity to make a financial investment in our endeavours. CVC uses Kiwi technology for a unique Kiwi approach to producing a vaccine. It seems apt that all Kiwis are now able to make the choice of joining our quest and our company,” he adds.
 
This is the first vaccine launched through equity crowdfunding platform PledgeMe.
 
“We’re so excited to see Kiwis get the opportunity to own a piece of a potential Covid vaccine,” says PledgeMe Chief Executive Claire McGowan. “It is truly going to take a crowd to recover from Covid, and we can’t wait to launch CVC through PledgeMe next month.”
 
Earlier in October, CVC obtained $3.3 million in funding from its private investors and with no shortage of expertise and critical partnerships, it is collaborating with the University of Auckland, Callaghan Innovation, Scion, Ardigen and Fonterra.
 
It estimates its first clinical trials will conclude in early 2022, costing around $8 million to complete.
 
CVC’s equity crowdfunding campaign opens on 11 November 2020 at noon. They are seeking to raise up to $3.5 million which represents 24.9% of the company. Shares are $0.80 each with a minimum investment of $500.
 
To sign up to CVC’s PledgeMe campaign newsletter please visit: www.cvc.nz