Staph aureus vaccines · Birmingham, Alabama
Healthier herds.
Healthier people.
Staph aureus is a common germ. It sickens cows and it sickens people. No licensed vaccine against it exists today. We are building one, on a single platform that serves animals and people — easy to give, with no cold storage.
- Bovine challenge data
- Patented CTA2/B platform
- Multiple vaccine candidates
- No cold chain required
- Simple to give
One germ. Two health problems.
Staphylococcus aureus lives on skin and in noses. Most of the time it does no harm. But it can infect a cow's udder. It can infect a surgical wound. Antibiotics do not always stop it, and the germ comes back. We are building one answer for both.
BoStaph™
A vaccine for dairy cows, infused into the udder at dry-off, as part of the routine the herd already follows. In a small preclinical cow study, vaccinated cows made more antibodies, showed less inflammation, and shed fewer germs.
BoStaph™ is in development under USDA NIFA STTR Phase I (2023–2025) and Phase II (2026–2028) awards, and is not licensed by the USDA. Planned USDA CVB licensure.
Animal Health →People at high risk
A vaccine for people at high risk after surgery and during dialysis. It is built on the same carrier molecule as our cow vaccine, and given as a nasal spray. No licensed S. aureus vaccine exists today.
Pentamer's human S. aureus vaccine is preclinical and has not been evaluated by the FDA.
Human Health →One molecule does three jobs
Every vaccine we build uses one carrier molecule. It carries the germ's tell — the parts the immune system learns to spot. It wakes the immune system up. And it delivers both to the nose, the gut, and the skin. Those are the places the germ lives before it infects. The same molecule works in a cow and in a person.
What the cow study showed
We tested the vaccine in a small preclinical cow study under a USDA NIFA STTR Phase I award (2023–2025). We share the full data with partners under confidentiality.
More antibodies
Vaccinated cows made more antibodies than unvaccinated cows. The antibodies showed up in milk and in blood. They stayed high through the study.
Calmer udders
After the germ was placed in the udder, vaccinated cows showed less inflammation than the others.
Germs spread less
Vaccinated cows shed fewer S. aureus germs. That is what protects the whole herd.
No harm seen
No adverse events were seen in vaccinated cows.
Where we are looking for partners
Dairy & veterinary partners
We are looking for dairy producers, veterinary partners, and animal-health companies for herd-scale evaluation and licensing discussions.
Research & funding partners
We are looking for collaborators for IND-enabling studies and non-dilutive funding pathways — SBIR/STTR, USDA, DoD, and state programs.