CEPI Awards $4.5 Million to Accelerate Vaccine Development Using Dyadic's C1 Fungal Platform

Dyadic International (search)Search term has secured a significant funding award from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance its innovative C1 fungal platform for accelerating the development of protein-based vaccines. The $4.5 million grant, announced on March 20, 2025, will support proof-of-concept research exploring whether Dyadic's proprietary technology can dramatically reduce vaccine production timelines while improving affordability and accessibility.

The funding will go to the non-profit Fondazione Biotecnopolo di Siena (search)Search term (FBS) to investigate the potential of producing vaccine antigens in C1 filamentous fungus (search)Search drug as a faster alternative to conventional mammalian cell production methods.

Revolutionary Approach to Vaccine Development

Current protein-based vaccine production using mammalian cells typically requires four to six months to develop stable cell lines that consistently produce target vaccine proteins. This lengthy process involves extensive testing and validation steps that significantly delay vaccine development during critical outbreak situations.

Dyadic's C1 fungal platform offers a potentially transformative solution. According to researchers, the technology could slash development time to just 35 days by rapidly producing pools of cells that generate quality vaccine proteins without the need for time-consuming testing procedures. This acceleration would enable vaccines to enter Phase 1 clinical trials much sooner—a critical advantage during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Dr. Raafat Fahim, Interim Executive Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at CEPI, emphasized the significance of this approach: "Protein-based vaccines play a crucial role in combating emerging infectious diseases. However, the current manufacturing processes for producing these vaccines can be both costly and time-consuming. By leveraging the growth capabilities of fungi, we can potentially produce the necessary proteins up to four to six times faster than traditional methods."

Supporting Global Pandemic Preparedness

The initiative directly supports the 100 Days Mission—a goal endorsed by G7 and G20 leaders to compress vaccine development timelines to approximately three months in response to pandemic threats. This ambitious target requires innovative technologies that can dramatically accelerate traditional development processes.

Beyond speed, the C1 platform offers additional advantages that could democratize vaccine manufacturing globally. Researchers anticipate the technology will produce large quantities of proteins that can be easily scaled with reduced requirements for complex or expensive biopharmaceutical facilities compared to mammalian cell cultures.

"There is a huge need for new technology platforms that can deliver vaccines that can be produced rapidly, that can be affordable for every person of the planet, that can easily be stored in refrigerators, and that can be rapidly scaled to billions of doses," said Prof. Rino Rappuoli, Scientific Director of FBS.

This affordability and scalability make the technology particularly suitable for transfer to regional manufacturing facilities in areas where vaccine infrastructure may be less established, potentially addressing critical gaps in global vaccine equity.

Comparative Research Approach

The initial phase of the CEPI-funded research will focus on producing a SARS-CoV-2 (search)Search disease spike protein (search)Search target—an antigen that trains the immune system to recognize and fight the virus—using both the innovative C1 fungus and traditional mammalian cell approaches.

Researchers will conduct comprehensive comparisons to determine if the antigen produced by the C1 fungus is comparable in structure and immunogenicity to those produced in mammalian cells. This head-to-head evaluation will provide critical data on the viability of the fungal platform for vaccine development.

If successful, subsequent phases will select an antigen from a pathogen of interest to CEPI for further development, with the goal of demonstrating a significantly reduced timeline for vaccine development.

Industry Implications and Future Directions

Mark Emalfarb, Dyadic's CEO, highlighted the broader implications of this funding: "This funding accelerates C1's development for pandemic preparedness through a One Health approach, reducing costs, increasing productivity, and improving global vaccine access. With CEPI's support, we aim to prevent zoonotic outbreaks and strengthen global health security."

The technology could potentially address multiple challenges in current vaccine development and manufacturing processes, including:

• Dramatically reduced development timelines
• Lower production costs
• Improved scalability for global distribution
• Enhanced accessibility for regions with limited infrastructure
• Simplified storage requirements

Emalfarb emphasized that while the technology shows tremendous promise, realizing its full potential requires proactive investment and policy support: "To fully realize these benefits, policymakers must act now, as CEPI urges, before the next pandemic strikes—proactive investment is critical to safeguarding human and animal health."

About the Technology

Dyadic's gene expression and protein production platforms are based on the highly productive and scalable fungus Thermothelomyces heterothallica (search)Search drug (formerly Myceliophthora thermophila). The company's lead technology, the C1-cell protein production platform, leverages an industrially proven microorganism to speed development, lower production costs, and improve performance of biologic vaccines and drugs.

The platform has applications beyond vaccines, with potential uses in therapeutics and non-pharmaceutical applications including food, nutrition, and wellness products. This versatility positions the technology as a potentially transformative tool across multiple sectors of healthcare and biotechnology.

As global health authorities continue to emphasize the importance of pandemic preparedness, innovations like Dyadic's C1 platform represent critical advances that could fundamentally change how the world responds to emerging infectious disease threats.