The CEO of the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization says the creation of an in-house pilot scale vaccine manufacturing facility will help speed up the development of new vaccines.
The official opening of Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization's new pilot scale vaccine manufacturing facility is set for June 28th.
VIDO CEO Dr. Volker Gerdts says pilot scale facilities are needed to take technology from the lab into the clinal testing phase.
Clip-Dr. Volker Gerdts-Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization:
In the past we have contracted the manufacturing of our technologies out to companies who are so-called contract manufacturers.
That works but the downside to that is that it's usually a longer process than if you had it in-house.
I think what COVID has demonstrated to all of us is that in the middle of a pandemic you don't have a lot of time.
The authorised vaccines that are on the market and some of which actually were tested here at VIDO in our animal models were all produced and manufactured at research organizations that already have an in-house manufacturing facility.
Speed is what matters in a pandemic and so, by having it in-house and not having to contract the various components out to other organizations, that's how you save time and that's what allows you to rapidly move forward.
As we all know, Canada not only didn't have enough research capacity but Canada also found itself in a situation where we didn't have enough pilot scale manufacturing capacity.
By adding this here at VIDO, the country will be better prepared for future emerging diseases, whether those are animal or human diseases.
Dr. Gerdts says commissioning of the new manufacturing facility is expected to be complete by late summer or early fall and it's hoped it will be manufacturing vaccines by the fourth quarter of this year.
Source : Farmscape.ca