Every year, as wintertime approaches, the flu begins spreading like wildfire. And for years, scientists have been unable to develop a functional vaccine that would combat the symptoms of influenza viruses and protect the population from repeated contagion.

That’s where Blue Water Vaccines comes in! This for-profit organization was founded in 2018 by Joseph Hernandez and has been coming up with unique formulas to develop a universal flu vaccine and treat influenza viruses since then.

Some might say it’s a dead-end mission because we’ve been trying to dismantle the virus for millennia. However, new flu shots come out every year, and Blue Water Vaccines wants to develop a single universal flu shot to end the shenanigans.

Besides a flu shot, the organization also plans to take measures against other infectious diseases by offering shares to investors.

If you’re interested in learning about their progress so far and maybe even gaining some new knowledge, read on!

The Path to a Single Universal Flu Shot

Joseph Hernandez, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Water Vaccines Inc., planted the organization's roots in October 2018. However, before this enterprise, Joseph was primarily focused on broadening his knowledge in science, specifically epidemiology.

Between pursuing a degree 20 years after he had thought he was done with knowledge advancement and leading multiple companies at once, there’s nothing Joseph hasn’t done.

With big-name investors like the University of Oxford and CincyTech, it’s clear that the aspiring entrepreneur wants to change the world forever.

Joseph’s educational journey began in 1991 when he enrolled at the University of Florida. He spent four years learning and pursuing a Bachelor’s in Neuroscience, from which he moves onto a different department at the same faculty. He spent another two years focusing on Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and mastering Finance/Entrepreneurship.

Fast-forward to the present day, Joseph is a Yale graduate with a Master’s in Science, precisely Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Biostatistics! But wait ─ his journey doesn’t end here! The CEO of Blue Water Vaccines has plenty more to brag about in terms of work experience.

Joseph started developing his sales and marketing skills when he landed his first job at Merck. He spent a couple of years learning the ins and outs of product management and finally became part of the senior team at Digene in 2003.

However, Joseph was aiming for something better. In 2005, he became President and CEO of Innovative Biosensors, and in the following years, obtained a senior management position at multiple organizations, including Signal Genetics.

In August 2013, he founded his first company, Microlin Bio, which operated until January 2017. The venture's goal was to focus on the function of microRNA in cancer.

After that project, Joseph followed his passions and founded Noachis Terra Inc., whose sole purpose was to develop an effective COVID-19 vaccine. However, this venture ended in June 2020, when Joseph sold the company to Oragenics, another development-stage company.

Finally, in October 2018, Joseph founded Blue Water Vaccines Inc. Since then, he’s wholly shifted his focus to creating a global flu shot, which we’re anxiously anticipating!

Eradicating Influenza One Step at a Time

Are you tired of locking yourself indoors during flu season? Indeed, all of us are! Thankfully, corporations like Blue Water Vaccines want to finally spare us the trouble of consuming daily vitamins and avoiding the cold like the plague.

Their mission is to create a one-of-a-kind flu shot that won't require herd immunity but will completely eradicate influenza viruses.

Compared to the current yearly vaccine, which only helps about half of those who get it, recent research and development show that two doses are required to reach immunity. That way, the Blue Water Vaccines flu shot could provide life-long protection against influenza for most patients.

Everything Blue Water Vaccines

Blue Water Vaccines has been working on an influenza cure since 2018.

Soon after Joseph founded the company, CincyTech, a public-private seed-stage investor, showed interest. The organization helped Joseph raise $7 million to invest in creating a vaccine. Since then, the company’s headquarters have been located in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Blue Water Vaccines also works closely with Oxford University. The educational center brings novel technology to the company, which the company has been using for research purposes.

Besides Joseph, the company employs people with substantial medical science and financial expertise. Here we can mention the CEO of CincyTech, Michael Venerable, Kimberly Murphy, a Commercialization Leader, and Allan Shaw, biotechnology CFO.

The Scientific Advisory board comprises Sunetra Gupta, a professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford. Working beside her are David Zarley, an experienced vaccine researcher and developer (former employee at Pfizer), and John Rice, Managing Director at CincyTech.

Proudly walking on the path to success, Blue Water Vaccines sturdily withstood the competition coming from giants like CStone Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, and GlaxoSmithKline, among others.

Riding the Unstoppable Current

When the world started battling against COVID-19 in early 2020, plans to develop the flu shot began stalling. The work in progress was put on hold for a while due to the inability of the Blue Water Vaccines team to work amid a pandemic efficiently.

Oxford University shut down as the United Kingdom worked to combat the high number of coronavirus cases. As the primary cooperator of the company and a provider of tech, this further complicated matters. Finally, Joseph announced that human trials for Blue Water Vaccines' development would be postponed for another year.

Along with the flu shot, the company postponed two more projects: the development of a middle-ear infection vaccine and a novel swine influenza strain vaccine.

It’s safe to say it hasn’t been smooth sailing for Joseph, but there’s still hope! As a result of the pandemic, many more potential investors have become interested in Blue Water Vaccines’ mission. And after the company went public, it raised substantial funds for further research.

Blue Water Vaccines relies on investors to fund its ideas. Therefore, the company has gone public and now offers stocks in the form of shares to potential buyers. As the organization states, any revenue generated from the said stocks is to go towards research and conducting human trials for vaccines.

The company went public in November 2021 to raise $20 million shares ranging from $8 to $10. Blue Water Vaccines seeks to trade under the mark BWV on the Nasdaq. The deal's sole bookrunner is Maxim Group LLC.

There’s also been drama regarding unpaid taxes by the Blue Water Vaccines CEO. However, he’s since disputed these claims.

What Does the Future Hold for Blue Water Vaccines?

Bill Gates predicted a global pandemic back in 2015, and everyone took his words with a grain of salt. However, it’s now been proven that a pandemic is one of those global issues the world was least prepared for. The damage has been done, and the effects have been devastating.

As such, Blue Water Vaccines is among the companies looking to prevent other disastrous events on the horizon. The swine variant, for example, can be transmitted from animals to humans, and the company is working to combat it.

Blue Water Vaccines is a private corporation with around 20 employees and a total funding amount of $7 million minus its IPO funds. At such a rate, it is easy to say that Blue Water Vaccines will see even more significant growth and funding in the future, and perhaps flu shot very, very, soon!

You can find it on many top companies lists, like the Midwestern US Information Technology Companies and the Biotechnology companies.