“Reflecting on my team and how they went above and beyond during the pandemic, I had a glimpse of what it means to be a hero. The team performed well beyond what anyone in the industry expected, executing a Phase I Human Clinical Trial for COVID-19 while conducting core business pharmaceutical operations. These individuals had families and lives outside of work to contend with, but they risked continued exposure to complete the COVID-19 vaccine program tasks.

With our 16-person, small but mighty team, they are the true heroes.” – Dr. Kyle Flanigan

Authority Magazine Editorial Staff

As part of my series about people who stepped up to make a difference during the COVID19 Pandemic, I had the pleasure of interviewing, Kyle Y. Flanigan, Ph.D.

With nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Kyle Flanigan, CEO and Co-founder of US Specialty Formulations LLC (USSF), is an expert in all pharmaceutical and medical performance materials development stages. One of the few Black owners of a biotech firm, Dr. Flanigan applies the Agile High-Performance Teams system to facilitate collaboration and problem solving — ensuring each of their and their clients’ products go to market efficiently and seamlessly. With a credentialed portfolio that includes a range of vaccine candidates, small molecule formulations and botanical pharmaceutical-grade extracts, Dr. Flanigan has the expertise and equipment to bring a safe, accessible mucosal COVID-19 vaccine to market.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about how and where you grew up?

I was born in St Louis, Missouri, and grew up with parents who were deeply involved in science. All aspects of pharmaceuticals and the chemistry industry surrounded my three siblings and me. With my father’s pharmaceutical and regulatory expertise, we moved every few years as required by his corporate demands. As a result of my mother’s drive, my siblings and I were highly motivated to achieve academic success. I had a solid foundation in reading, writing, arithmetic and music. All this led to a healthy upbringing with structure, fun and awareness of the sensitivities of culture, race and religion. My mother actively ensured we were provided with opportunities and would challenge any instances of prejudice against the color of our skin.

My grandparents instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in me — and it was a natural progression for me to follow in their combined footsteps..

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. This book dives into the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience, offering insight into our “two minds” — the rational and the emotional — and how they together shape our destiny.

As a Black man, any form of a strong opinion or assertiveness comes across as overly aggressive. This book gave me a new perspective on sharing my opinion authoritatively and respectfully, thus minimizing the fear and insecurity that being Black generates in others.

It has helped me, as a leader, when talking to employees, setting organizational goals and discussing technology or business matters with potential investors to communicate, frame and create context based on my attunement to their specific emotional state.

Emotional intelligence has allowed me to identify people’s feelings and expand my thinking while removing emotional barriers. I choose words and present ideas to convey my point, meeting my audience with minimal resistance from an emotional reference.

The promising results in phase I of clinical trials bring USSF one step closer to an adaptable, convenient oral vaccine for COVID-19, Group A Strep and flu

ALLENTOWN, PA, US, September 7, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — QYNDR (pronounced kinder), is a next-generation vaccine that addresses the challenges of the current COVID-19 vaccines. After completing phase I of clinical trials, US Specialty Formulations, LLC. (USSF) is another step closer to launching a new, multi-faceted oral vaccine that can be stored easily, administered needle-free with the ability to fight against a range of diseases and viruses.

“The phase I clinical data showed strong evidence that this oral platform and vaccine is a revolutionary industry disruptor and will become the preferred method of vaccination in the future,” said USSF CEO and Co-founder Kyle Flanigan, Ph.D. “As we proceed into phase II and III, we are confident this next generation vaccine will be more effective than other mucosal vaccines in current development and testing.”

The human clinical phase I safety trial took place in New Zealand, which provided the opportunity to look at the efficacy of QYNDR compared to already approved vaccines in New Zealand. After administering and closely monitoring the results of the oral QYNDR vaccine, the clinical results were excellent in terms of longevity and cross variant protection from multiple COVID-19 strains. The study may have identified a correlation of protection against the virus and other strains to be investigated further in an upcoming phase II clinical trial currently under development.

The protein-based oral vaccine (is a mucosal vaccine) is formulated by Co-founders Garry Morefield, Ph.D and his partner Kyle Flanigan, Ph.D . and their accomplished team of scientists at VaxForm and USSF. With decades of experience in the multiple stages of pharmaceutical development and medical performance materials, Dr. Morefield and Dr. Flanigan discovered an elegant solution for a simple-to-take vaccine supported by extensive research that oral vaccines boast numerous advantages over injectables.

A priority goal for next-generation COVID-19 vaccines is to reduce infection with and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via the respiratory route, while maintaining or enhancing protection against symptomatic and severe disease. Utilization of mucosal vaccination to elicit robust mucosal immunity in the respiratory tract is a logical approach to achieving these goals.

By Kathleen Doheny

The COVID-19 vaccines were a remarkable medical accomplishment, credited with preventing more than 3 million deaths and 18 million hospitalizations in the U.S. alone in 2 years, but scientists and public health officials say future versions will have to work even better.

Current vaccines are best at preventing serious illness, hospitalizations, and death. Improved vaccines would need to up the ante and make infection and transmission far less likely.

Researchers from around the globe are also working on ways to make the vaccines easier – think pill, liquid, nasal spray, or patch – while making them less vulnerable to variants, with fewer side effects.

All of this could perhaps help many people overcome their resistance to getting vaccinated, which is plainly evident from the numbers: Worldwide about 72% of people have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. The number of Americans with one dose is higher at more than 81%, but just 16.3% have agreed to get a booster, according to the CDC.

The current crop of vaccines, notably mRNA, may not be enough. Anthony Fauci, MD, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and former chief medical adviser to the president, recently told WebMD, “We certainly want next-generation vaccines” that are broader and more adaptable, cover multiple variants, and offer “a greater degree of duration.”

An Interview With Jamie Hemmings

There are several great ideas, dreamt and thought up by people every day. An idea alone however is not sufficient to change the world. A person’s ability to execute upon the idea is key.

In the United States today, black doctors are vastly underrepresented. Only 5% of physicians nationwide are black. Why is it so important to have better representation? What steps can be taken to fix this discrepancy? In this interview series, we are talking to successful black men and women in medicine about their career, their accomplishments, and how others may follow their path. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kyle Flanigan, Ph.D.

With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Kyle Flanigan, Co-founder and CEO of US Specialty Formulations LLC (USSF), is an expert in all pharmaceutical and medical performance materials development stages. One of the few Black Ph.D.’s to launch a biotech firm, Dr. Flanigan applies the Agile High-Performance Teams system to facilitate collaboration and problem solving — ensuring each of their and their clients’ products go to market efficiently and seamlessly. With a credentialed portfolio that includes a range of vaccine candidates, small molecule formulations, and botanical pharmaceutical-grade extracts, Dr. Flanigan has the expertise and equipment to bring a safe, accessible mucosal COVID-19 vaccine to market.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?

Iwas born in St Louis, Missouri and grew up with both parents deep in the science field. All aspects of the chemistry industry surrounded my three siblings and me. With my father’s expertise, we moved every few years as required by his career demands. As a result, my three siblings and I were highly motivated to achieve academic success. I had a solid foundation and a healthy upbringing and grew up with structure, fun and awareness of the sensitivities of culture, race and religion. My mother actively ensured we were provided with opportunities and not prejudiced against the color of our skin.

My paternal grandparents instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in me — it was a natural progression for me to follow in their footsteps.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path? When in the world of semiconductor discipline, could easily be applied in biotechnology — designing and running a pharmaceutical company.

I saw the connection and overlap between the semiconductor industry and the opportunities in biotech. The joy of science is that the principles and thought processes can be applied to different disciplines. With a deep interest in this connection, I built my knowledge in designing and building a pharmaceutical and development company.

US Specialty Formulations is working to create an oral, thermo-stable COVID vaccine

Kyle Flanigan, Ph.D., always enjoyed tinkering and exploring new technologies. His first love was the U.S. space program and technologies that could benefit exploration. Later in life, he became an explorer of new paths, the development of shelf-stable, oral vaccines for multiple viral threats.

A graduate of Howard University with a degree in chemistry, Flanigan dreamed of working in the space program. He spent time in the astronaut candidate program before pivoting to develop computer chips for Intel Corp. From there, his career took him to Honeywell and then to Malinckrodt. There, he got a glimpse of the pharmaceutical world and his career trajectory changed.

It changed even further during a conversation with longtime friend and business partner Garry Morefield. The two men discussed the need for faster and easier vaccine delivery. Morefield, founder of Bethlehem, Penn.-based VaxForm LLC, had been working on a strep throat vaccine. The two men believed the development timeline could be accelerated if they did it on their own. That conversation sparked the formation of Allentown-based US Specialty Formulations.

Flanigan and Morefield launched USSF in 2013. The mission was to produce clinical materials that could support drug development for clients, as well as for the strep program.

When COVID-19 spread across the globe, Flanigan and his colleagues, like many companies, quickly pivoted the strep vaccine program to tackle the new viral threat. The situation was dire and there was a need for new therapeutics and vaccines to be developed. Flanigan, who now serves as chief executive officer of USSF, said the vaccine technology developed by USSF was ideal for respiratory infections. What’s more, USSF’s approach was aimed at manufacturing an oral vaccine.

What if you could drink your COVID-19 vaccine instead of rolling up your sleeve? No needle — just a “swish and swallow,” and your new immunity is down the hatch.

You might be able to within the next couple of years, as researchers expand their focus onto mucosal vaccines, which include nasal or inhaled vaccines as well as “swish and swallow” oral vaccines such as QYNDR, which completed its phase 1 clinical trial and is currently waiting on more funding to conduct the more detailed, advanced trials that could actually bring the vaccine to market.

The QYNDR vaccine is pronounced “kinder,” because it’s a softer way to deliver a vaccine, says Kyle Flanigan, founder of QYNDR’s maker, US Specialty Formulations. Promising clinical trial results from New Zealand offer hope that QYNDR will be a viable option for protection against the string of COVID-19 variants circulating. The findings have not been peer-reviewed yet.

But to advance it to the additional clinical trials needed to take it to review and market, they need funding from investors. This week, Flanigan was in San Francisco at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference trying to get that funding.

We all want the best for our families.

Learn how to keep you and your loved ones healthy by tuning in to our weekly wellness segment.

Host Brittany Sweeney provides the best tips and guidance to maintain your well-being while living in the Lehigh Valley.

From a small biotech start-up firm in Allentown, Pennsylvania, two scientists are leading their team to bring an oral COVID-19 vaccine to market – one that will be easier to use, longer lasting and with fewer side effects.

Kyle Flanigan and Garry Morefield co-founded US Specialty Formulations LLC (USSF) through discussions while watching their daughters compete in gymnastics. This came with just $100,000 and the ambition to grow their site into a thriving biotech and pharmaceutical facility. Today, the 41,000-square-foot manufacturing facility spans more than two acres and has become a hub of experts creating diverse solutions, applications and approaches to help clients overcome hurdles in drug discovery and development.

US Specialty Formulations is a minority-controlled business and certified Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturer of sterile injectable, topical and specialty pharmaceuticals. It manufactures its own branded prescription products and provides clinical materials for investigational new drug applications, specialty formulations, adjuvants and fermentation and purification services requested by various biotech companies.

The US Specialty Formulations team applies agile high-performance teams system to facilitate collaboration and problem solving – ensuring clients’ products go to market efficiently and seamlessly. From initial stages of development to commercial manufacture, they leverage their methods, analytics, scale-up technologies and technology transfer to guide small compound and vaccine development.

With a portfolio that includes a range of vaccine candidates, small molecule formulations and botanical pharmaceutical grade extracts, Flanigan and Morefield are bringing their mucosal COVID-19 vaccine to market. They pivoted their formula from an oral DTaP (diphtheria), a childhood vaccine most of the population received, initially targeted for human clinical trials in early 2020.

How has US Specialty Formulations been able to adapt the DTaP vaccine for COVID?

In the early pre-clinical development work, we looked at extending the shelf life of existing vaccines using this oral technology. For those experiments, we used an expired DTap vaccine. The experiments showed that after applying our technology to the expired DTap vaccine, it generated immune responses on par with a ‘fresh’ vaccine vs. a poor immune response from the unmodified and expired stock DTap vaccine. The current oral platform benefited from these early experiments and the learnings incorporated into the COVID vaccine.

We (Canvasrebel) recently connected with Kyle Flanigan, Ph.D. and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, thanks for joining us today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?

US Specialty Formulations LLC (USSF) was founded to provide clinical materials to the vaccine and new drug development sponsors. With COVID, USSF found itself in the lead position as a clinical trial sponsor versus a contractor. USSF’s business model went from a pharmaceutical manufacturer to a hybrid pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company.

Kyle, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

USSF was founded on the basis of process and formulation development and high-tech business management. The organization offers our customers value-deep knowledge of the best way to manufacture never-been-done formulations and the flexibility to work with small companies who know what they want the end result to be but don’t know how to get there. USSF offers multiple high-quality interactions with multiple touchpoints and intimate team contact.

The results are high-quality products where USSF is well integrated with the customer’s integration team.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Dr. Kyle Flanigan and Dr. Garry Morefield met and co-founded US Specialty Formulations LLC through several discussions while watching their daughters compete in gymnastics. With just $100,000, they had the ambition to grow their site into a successful biotech and pharmaceutical facility.

Today, the 41,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility spans over two acres and is becoming a well-regarded clinical materials provider for sponsors seeking a responsive and dynamic manufacturing partner. With a successful conclusion of the Human Phase 1 Clinical Trial, USSF can offer an exciting oral vaccine delivery platform for future vaccine candidates.