Pioneering vaccine centre to open in UK

A pioneering UK vaccine centre dedicated to tackling deadly diseases such as Ebola is to be built in Oxford, the government has announced.

The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC) is designed to place Britain at the forefront of worldwide efforts to tackle life-threatening diseases. The centre is being led by the Jenner Institute, a partnership between the University of Oxford and the Pirbright Institute.

Though UK Research and Innovation, the government will invest £66 million in the centre which is expected to create over 50 jobs in the area. The centre is expected to open in 2022, with the first products anticipated to become available later that year. An addition £10 million in funding will come from major healthcare companies with the centre being supported by expertise and training from GE Healthcare.

Business secretary Greg Clark, who made the announcement, said: “More than 200 years ago the UK pioneered the first vaccine and with it, smallpox was eradicated. Now as the world is threatened by killers such as Ebola and Lassa fever we will build on our significant heritage and history to fight against them with our unmatched reputation for medical research and innovation.

"The government is investing in pioneering vaccine manufacturing as part of our modern Industrial Strategy to create more highly skilled jobs, place the NHS at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and deliver the biggest increase in public investment in research and development in UK history.”

Diseases such as Ebola and Lassa fever, which have no licensed vaccines, have resulted in hundreds of deaths this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. The centre is hoped to help the UK prepare for any outbreaks in the event of a pandemic.

UK Research and Innovation chief executive professor sir Mark Walport said: “Improving the development, production and application of new vaccines against infectious diseases requires expertise and collaboration across academia and industry.

'"The Vaccines Manufacturing Centre will play an important role in bringing expertise from industry and academia together to ensure we are prepared to respond to the threats of serious infections, including viruses with the potential to cause major national or global epidemics.”