Iaso to Present Novel Vaccine Platform
Iaso Therapeutics announced it will present its novel mQβ synthetic vaccine platform at the 2026 World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C. The company is focused on redefining infectious disease prevention through its new technology.
- The company is a spin-out from Michigan State University, founded in 2018 by Dr. Xuefei Huang, an MSU Foundation Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering. This highlights a direct pathway from academic research to a biotechnology startup. - Iaso's mQβ platform is a novel virus-like particle that has shown superiority in generating antibody responses compared to traditional carrier proteins used in other vaccines. The technology aims to do for sugars what mRNA vaccines did for peptides and proteins, allowing for faster adaptation to new threats. - The company's President and CEO, Robert Forgey, is a scientist and entrepreneur who previously co-founded ProNAi Therapeutics, an oncology company now traded on NASDAQ as Sierra Oncology. This exemplifies a career path that blends scientific expertise with business leadership in the life sciences industry. - Iaso Therapeutics is exploring the use of its platform for both preventing diseases (prophylactic vaccines) and treating existing conditions like cancer (therapeutic vaccines). The company has received grants from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to advance its research. - The mQβ platform is designed to be a synthetic vaccine technology, which can offer advantages in consistency of production and flexibility for manufacturers compared to some traditional vaccine production methods. The goal is to create vaccines that are stable at room temperature and can be scaled globally. - The presentation at the World Vaccine Congress will be delivered by CEO Robert Forgey at the Innovator Showcase on March 31, 2026, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. In addition to the presentation, the company will be meeting with potential investors and partners.
