VAXESS 2025 YEAR IN REVIEW

From Rachel Sha, CEO, Vaxess

2025 was an eventful year for Vaxess. We achieved a number of scientific and organizational milestones as our team worked towards making therapeutic delivery more accessible, comfortable, and patient-centered. Below, I’ve detailed a few of Vaxess’s many accomplishments from the past year:

Developing a Needle-Free, Self-Applied Microarray Patch for GLP-1 Delivery

In June, we presented new preclinical data at the 2025 American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions in Chicago. Vaxess’s research demonstrates that the company’s microarray patch (MAP) is capable of delivering semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, with bioavailability comparable to subcutaneous injection.

This evaluation focused on semaglutide delivery in Gottingen minipigs, a widely-used preclinical model for intradermal drug delivery. Vaxess tested two patch designs, each delivering a clinically-relevant 2 nmol/kg dose. Both designs demonstrated bioavailability comparable to subcutaneous injection and achieved modestly higher Cmax, with similar half-life profiles.

This work was supported in part by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Completing Human Factors Study

As Vaxess prepares to move forward with its GLP-1 candidate, we wanted to ensure that patients will have a positive experience with the microarray patch, and be able to apply it safely and effectively. That’s why we recently conducted our third human factors study.

Each week, participants were asked to indicate which device they would prefer to use: the patch applicator (MAP) or an injection device (e.g., the Ozempic prefilled multi-dose pen). Nearly all participants (95%) preferred the patch applicator.  

Announcing Vice President of Manufacturing

This year, we were thrilled to welcome Raymond Knox as Vaxess’s vice president of manufacturing. 

In recent years, the Vaxess manufacturing team has done extraordinary work in setting up Vaxess’s first GMP manufacturing facility in Woburn. Under Ray’s leadership, Vaxess is working towards automating our manufacturing processes while also planning for additional facilities. 

Ray has extensive experience in biotech manufacturing and product development, with a proven record of success across both large multi-billion-dollar organizations and early-stage companies. He previously served as chief manufacturing officer at Lyndra Therapeutics, and . held several senior positions at Ximedica (now part of Veranex), 480 Biomedical, and Boston Scientific.

Amplifying Our Work  

Over the last year, the Vaxess team has been honored to receive a number of accolades and speaking invitations that help raise awareness for what we’re building. A few examples included: 

• Having the opportunity to be named one of the Boston Business Journal’s Women Who Lead in Life Sciences, and speaking at their fall event.

• Being selected as one of the 25 life sciences companies in Massachusetts to receive tax incentives from the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC).

• Speaking at the BIO International Convention about rethinking real-world data collection to improve patient outcomes.

• Presenting Vaxess’s progress at the annual Tough Tech Summit hosted by The Engine. Additionally, I shared after the event why working on GLP-1 patches is so important.

Together, these accolades and speaking engagements help broaden awareness and deepen understanding of what Vaxess is striving for: a delivery method for therapeutics that significantly improves the patient experience.

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Over the next year, I will share many more company updates about partnerships, funding, and product development. Next week, I look forward to attending JPM to share more about Vaxess’s progress. If you’d like to meet at JPM, you can contact us at contact@vaxess.com.