What we do
Vaccine pipeline | Training | What we deliver: R & D highlights | Project submission
VIDO/InterVac | The Canadian Center for Vaccinology | The BC Centre for Disease Control
Current inability to create vaccines for all infectious diseases of medical significance costs the Canadian health care system more than $3 billion annually. That figure is expected to rise as the nation's population ages.
PREVENT is presently using existing infrastructure to minimize early-development costs and focus funding on the Implementation of Canada's New Vaccine Pipeline strategy.
The plan that bridges the gap between bench and market
The PREVENT team has executed a comprehensive plan that has no weak links between bench and market: one that will accelerate important vaccines into the marketplace, establishing Canada at the forefront of vaccine development and commercialization.
The PREVENT plan
- develop and manage preclinical and early clinical programs to provide new or improved vaccines of high public health priority;
- move promising vaccine technologies from Canadian academia and biotech through the middle stages of development until they become attractive candidates for commercialization;
- stimulate the growth of Canada's vaccine industry by creating and fostering partnerships among the academic, industrial, governmental and not-for-profit sectors;
- strengthen Canada's vaccine industry to attract new investment;
- mobilize expertise in areas of vaccine commercialization, including IP protection, regulatory filing, and identification of partnerships for commercial development;
- coordinate vaccine research and training programs to increase the pool of highly qualified personnel in vaccine discovery and development within Canada.
The research that accelerates the product from bench to market
The focus of PREVENT will be on developing vaccines for diseases for which no vaccine is currently available such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Chlamydia, and E. coli O157. RSV is a major cause of respiratory disease in infants, but no licensed vaccine for it exists. In the US, the virus causes 4,500 deaths a year.
PREVENT will also attempt to improve existing vaccines with new formulations that reduce adverse effects, improve protection and delivery, and lower production costs. Vaccines against influenza, measles and whooping cough fall into this category.
Potential disease targets for fast-track vaccine commercialization include influenza, whooping cough, Chlamydia, E. coli, and prion diseases such as "mad cow."
The first vaccine candidate in the PREVENT development pipeline will enter Phase I clinical trials by 2010.
