Science, Innovation and Investment Minister Chris McDonald has announced £33.2 million for vaccine research to improve the UK’s readiness for future epidemics and pandemics, funding eight projects targeting diseases including Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever and plague.
The awards will support eight projects covering vaccine candidates, clinical trials and technologies intended to speed up vaccine design and manufacturing.
Diseases with no approved vaccine
Target diseases include Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, Nipah virus, chikungunya, Mayaro and plague. There is currently no approved vaccine or antiviral treatment for Marburg disease.
The programme is supported by the UK Vaccine Network and delivered through Innovate UK. Five projects will use Official Development Assistance because they are intended to support health and welfare in eligible lower-income countries.
McDonald: invest before a crisis
McDonald said investment before a crisis would help scientists develop and deploy vaccines faster while strengthening the UK’s life-sciences sector.
The same programme previously supported development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. Ministers say the new awards will also build clinical-trial and manufacturing capacity that can be used when outbreaks occur.
