The Department of Health is to invest up to £10 million in two competition streams in line with the priorities identified by the UK Vaccine Network.
This competition aims to stimulate the development of:
- Vaccines for priority infectious diseases
- Vaccine platform technology
- manufacturing technologies that would allow for the rapid manugacture of vaccines in low-income setting
Stream 1:
£6 million is available for exploring scientific and technical feasibility, aimed at vaccine development and vaccine technology that is still a long way from entering phase I human trials.
Individual contracts will be for up to £500,000, to be spent within 12 months of contract award.
Stream 2:
£4 million is available for projects at a more advanced stage of development, aimed at candidate vaccines that are now, or soon to be, ready for phase I human trials and manufacturing technology that could potentially be commerically viable in the near future.
Individual contracts will be for £500,000 to £1 million, to be spent within 18 months of contract award.
The Department of Health recognises that there is no time to lose in the development of candidate vaccines, vaccine platform technology and vaccine manufacturing technology to combat priority infectious diseases. As such, there is particular interest in projects that can begin rapidly and have the potential to spend significant amounts of the contract award in calendar year 2016.
Scope:
This competition will support projects seeking to develop vaccines, vaccine platform technologies and manufacturing technologies that will enable an effective, rapid response during future outbreaks of the following pathogens: Chikungunya, Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, Dengue Virus, Ebola, Hantavirus, Lassa, Marburg, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Nipah, Plague, Q Fever, Rift Valley Fever and Zika.
Out of scope:
- new agents/technologies not related to the diseases listed above
- discovery of wholly new immunisation agents
- development of agents for animal disease that cannot demonstrate a clear impact on human health
Key dates
Competition opens | 29 February 2016 |
Briefing event | 11 March 2016 |
Registration Deadline | 27 April 2016 noon |
Deadline for applications | 4 May 2016 noon |
Contracts awarded | September 2016 |
For more information and contact details please visit Innovate UK website