New Vaccines Centre to protect UK from pandemic threats

The UK's first dedicated Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC), annnounced by Business Secretary Greg Clark MP, represents a major commercial opportunity and also a new front line in the nation's defence against global pandemic threats. To be up and running by 2022, the VMIC addresses the UK's structural gap in late-stage vaccine manufacturing process development. It will allow development and manufacture of vaccines for clinical trials and at moderate scale for emergency preparedness for epidemic threats to the UK population. Led by the the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute, the new centre has been awarded funding by UK Research and Innovation of £66 million through the UK Government's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Medicines Manufacturing challenge. Jenner Institute Director, Professor Adrian Hill, said: 'This is an exceptional opportunity for the UK to lead in the provision of vaccines against a wide range of outbreak pathogens which threaten to cause major epidemics. The lack of commercial incentive to develop these has now led to this exceptional partnership of major academic and industrial players in the vaccine field, to accelerate a range of vaccines towards large-scale manufacture and stockpile provision for vulnerable populations. In parallel, the Centre will develop innovative manufacturing technologies with UK companies and Universities to support the next generation of life-saving preventive and therapeutic vaccines.' Located on a new site at The Oxford Science Park, the VMIC will have the potential for additional commercial capability, such as for emergency preparedness, for larger scale manufacturing of vaccines to be funded by industry and the Department of Health and Social Care.