The UK’s first dedicated Vaccines Manufacturing & Innovation Centre set to open in Oxfordshire in 2021.
The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) is the first of its kind in Europe, established to provide the UK’s first strategic vaccine development and advanced GMP manufacturing capability.
The Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) has been established to promote, develop and accelerate the growth of the UK vaccine industry. As part of the national scientific infrastructure, VMIC will fast track development and manufacturing of early-stage vaccine products (both prophylactic and therapeutic)
VMIC will also enhance UK preparedness and emergency response capabilities for producing vaccines against emerging infectious diseases by allowing the UK government to use the facility and staff during an outbreak identified as a public health emergency of international concern.
This will be achieved through collaboration with the academic sector and SMEs, which are rich in new vaccine technologies, where VMIC provides expertise in process development and manufacturing in the form of expert staff and a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.
VMIC will bridge the gap between research and expertise in development and manufacturing so that new vaccine products can enter clinical development, which is a value driver in terms of attracting funding for further development, partnering with the pharmaceutical industry from development to launch and to contract manufacturing.
VMIC already has a significant role in the UK Government’s national response to COVID-19.
VMIC was founded in 2018 by the University of Oxford, Imperial College and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with support from industrial partners, MSD, Johnson and Johnson, and Cytiva, formerly GE Life Sciences. Working through collaborative ventures with industry, academia and NGOs, VMIC will ultimately strengthen and innovate the UK’s vaccines sector.
VMIC will have access to expertise from its industrial partners including cell lines, viral vectors, state of the art equipment and for training and will largely focus on novel manufacturing technologies to produce virally vectored vaccines. It is expected that having this capability available in the UK will help to anchor new vaccine or existing vaccine companies in the UK thus contributing to the regeneration of the vaccine development and manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure in the UK.
VMIC’s 7,000m2 state-of-the-art vaccines manufacturing facility will open in 2021 following a rapidly accelerated development schedule. It will be located on the world-renowned Harwell Science and Innovation Campus near Didcot in Oxfordshire.
