Dynavax Technologies Corporation (DVAX)

Dynavax Technologies Corporation was a commercial-stage vaccine company based in Emeryville, California. It was founded in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay Area and focused from the start on immune-stimulating technology based on CpG oligonucleotides, which activate the Toll-like receptor 9 pathway. The company completed its initial public offering on Nasdaq in 2004.

For many years Dynavax was a development-stage company that pursued a range of immunotherapy programs. Its most important program was a hepatitis B vaccine using the CpG 1018 adjuvant. After a long regulatory path that included an earlier rejection, the U.S. FDA approved the vaccine, sold as HEPLISAV-B, in 2017 for adults aged 18 and older, and it was later approved in Europe.

HEPLISAV-B became the company's main source of revenue. It uses two doses over one month, compared with the longer schedules of older hepatitis B vaccines, and the company built a commercial organization in the United States to market it to health systems, pharmacies and other providers. Revenue from the vaccine grew steadily in the years after launch.

Dynavax also supplied CpG 1018 as an adjuvant to other vaccine developers, which became a significant business during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the adjuvant was used in vaccines developed by partners including Clover Biopharmaceuticals and Novavax. The company used its commercial cash flows to expand its pipeline, including a shingles vaccine candidate and other earlier-stage programs.

On December 24, 2025, Sanofi announced an agreement to acquire Dynavax for $15.50 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $2.2 billion on an equity basis. The deal was designed to add a marketed adult hepatitis B vaccine and the shingles candidate to Sanofi's vaccines portfolio. It was structured as a tender offer followed by a merger.

Sanofi announced completion of the acquisition on February 10, 2026. Each Dynavax share not tendered was converted into the right to receive the same cash price. Nasdaq trading in Dynavax stock ended and a Form 25 was filed on February 10, 2026. Dynavax became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sanofi and no longer trades publicly.