Government Boosts Investment into VMIC

The UK’s first strategic centre for vaccine development and manufacturing has been awarded up to £131 million by the government, to scale-up infrastructure and capacity to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine.  The Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) situated on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, is aiming to produce 70 million vaccine doses in four-six months from opening – a 20-fold increase from current figures. Furthermore, the facility’s building schedule will be accelerated to allow it to come online in summer 2021 – a year ahead of schedule.

A ‘virtual VMIC’ will be created, procuring manufacturing equipment, recruiting highly-specialist people and securing physical space to create a temporary manufacturing centre ready to make vaccines at pace and scale once a viable COVID-19 vaccine has been found.

Welcoming the move, Dr Barbara Ghinelli, Director of Harwell Clusters and Business Development at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said: “Investing in the acceleration and expansion of VMIC is wise both in the medium- and long-term. Opening the facility a year ahead of schedule will strengthen the UK’s efforts to tackle COVID-19 and give us resilience for future pandemics.

“In the long-term, with increased R&D and manufacturing capability, the Centre will act as a catalyst to strengthen the UK vaccines value chain – creating new fields of expertise and driving forward innovation to the benefit of the global science community.”

VMIC was established by the University of Oxford, Imperial College and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with support from industrial partners, Merck Sharpe and Dohme, Johnson and Johnson, and GE Healthcare. The new funding comes through UK Research and Innovation, as part of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and is in addition to an original £65 million grant, with a further £10 million provided by industry partners and other businesses.