ST. LOUIS — A biotechnology company that specializes in advanced vaccine technologies is set to be acquired by a multinational pharmaceutical giant.

Omniose is currently working on creating vaccines that target Group B Streptococcus (which can cause life-threatening infections in newborns and older adults), Klebsiella pneumoniae (which can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections and wound infections) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (which can cause bronchitis, bacterial meningitis and sinus infections).

AstraZeneca, a biopharmaceutical business based in Cambridge, England, announced the planned acquisition on Tuesday. A purchase price was not disclosed.

“This milestone reflects the work of exceptional and complementary teams,” Omniose co-founder and chief strategy officer Christian Harding said in a statement. “AstraZeneca has been a trusted partner for several years, and this acquisition gives our platform the best chance to reach the patients it was built to serve.”

The deal comes after a three-year exclusive research collaboration with AstraZeneca. According to a press release, Omniose will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary within AstraZeneca’s infectious disease unit.

“Building on the strong scientific collaboration between our teams, we look forward to advancing these programs and realizing the potential of this technology for patients,” Benjamin Moutier, AstraZeneca’s infectious disease senior vice president, said in a statement.

In order to prompt a strong immune response in the body, a bacterial antigen, which is a carbohydrate, needs to be connected to a protein. Omniose links the bacterial antigen with a protein biologically, rather than chemically, and streamlines the manufacturing process.

The company has about 25 employees and currently works out of the Cortex Innovation District in the Central West End.

Mario Feldman, a molecular microbiology researcher at Washington University, and Harding, who was Feldman’s postdoctoral student, started Omniose, then called VaxNewMo, in 2016.

Feldman and Harding set up Omniose’s research operations with BioGenerator Labs and used BioGenerator Labs’ bench space and access to equipment at a subsidized rate. BioGenerator is the startup arm of BioSTL, a local non-profit focused on growing the region’s bioscience economy.

Early funders of Omniose include BioGenerator and local nonprofit Arch Grants.

BioGenerator senior managing director Jim McCarter said that because BioGenerator takes equity positions in companies, money from things like the AstraZeneca acquisition comes back to the nonprofit.

“It's a flywheel. You need these successes to see the potential of building a biotech innovation economy in St. Louis,” McCarter told the Post-Dispatch. “When investors receive returns from an exit like this, those dollars can be reinvested and BioGenerator explicitly is reinvesting our returns in the next generation of companies.”

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