New ‘how-to guide’ for future rapid vaccine development – UKRI

Until recently, human vaccine development has typically taken 10 to 15 years.

But during the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines like the Vaxzevria vaccine produced by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca were developed and licensed within a single year.

This remarkable achievement was made possible through:

• the sharing of pre-existing knowledge
• platform delivery technologies
• active, positive collaboration between researchers and regulators

Rapid human vaccine development map

The process map includes a rapid human vaccine development (RHVD) case study created using the COVID-19 vaccine as an exemplar.

It will build on this experience and use the lessons learned to:

• help researchers boost capacity
• avoid setbacks
• respond rapidly to future health challenges and pandemics

The process map and case study will improve understanding of the key stages of drug development and where bottlenecks could possibly slow down progress.

Access the process map and case study through the recently updated UK Vaccine Network (UKVN) Vaccine Development Process Maps website.

100 Days Mission

The website was developed by UKVN.

UKVN is a research project funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and led by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council (MRC).

The platform supports the ‘100 Days Mission’ which was initiated during the UK’s G7 presidency.

It aims to ensure that new vaccines should be ready for initial authorisation and manufacture at scale within 100 days.

This will help to defuse the threat from a new pathogen with the potential to cause a pandemic.

Previous process maps and case studies have already been produced by UKVN based on the lessons learned from the development of vaccines for Mers, Zika and the Prokarium Vaxonella plague vaccine.

Shared mission

Professor Chris Whitty, Chair for the UKVN, said:

The vaccine development maps are a key tool for researchers working on vaccine development.

Now updated with lessons learned on rapid vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic, I encourage anyone working in vaccinology to make use of this publicly available resource to progress our shared mission to develop accessible vaccines against epidemic diseases globally.

Future disease challenges

Dr Stephen Oakeshott, MRC Head of Infections and Immunity, said:

Rapid vaccine development is essential when facing a pandemic or epidemic threat and the first 100 days of an outbreak are considered a crucial period for action.

Ensuring we have clear pathways to rapidly and efficiently create the vaccines that will protect us from future disease challenges is incredibly important and we are proud to have been able to support this project.

Common understanding

Ranna Eardley-Patel, sustainable manufacturing lead at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, said:

Vaccine development is a complex endeavour, and these maps and associated case studies provide a basis for a common understanding of the development workstreams and how these pathways interlink.

The RHVD case study is a great recognition of the work done during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Get involved

Dr Michael James Francis, Managing Director BioVacc Consulting Ltd, said:

I have been pleased to be involved in the development of this Vaccine Development Map website since the first meeting of the UKVN Group 3 in December 2015.

It is gratifying to see how the site has developed over the years with the production of both human and veterinary vaccine development maps.

The updated and reformatted site will also allow the introduction of further rapid development maps in the future, and we would encourage those who have suitable examples to approach us for their inclusion.