Helping donors and funders carry out vaccine development programs

VFI supports the vision of a healthier world with tried and trusted expertise and network.

VFI is striving to open up access to relevant knowledge for the development of affordable and efficient adjuvanted vaccines. VFI’s funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Commission underline VFI’s not-for-profit engagement for the benefit of developing countries.

Current funders

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

GHDC

The Global Health Discovery Collaboratory links BMGF-funded activities with best-in-class research services in order to accelerate vaccine development.

GHDC

VFI provides adjuvants, formulation studies, as well as immunogenicity testing and quality control. Thus far, VFI has run over 30 projects for vaccine developers on numerous vaccine candidates, including against Repiratory Syncytial Virus, COVID-19, Inactivated Polio, HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Influenza and other diseases.

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Reference:
Marcandalli, J. et al. Induction of Potent Neutralizing Antibody Responses by a Designed Protein Nanoparticle Vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Cell 176, 1420-1431.e17 (2019).

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

CEPI

Development of an Effective Subunit Vaccine Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants as a Platform Technology“ is a project led by VIDO (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization) at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

CEPI

The project aims to develop a second generation of VIDO’s vaccine candidate COVAC-2, a COVID-19 protein subunit vaccine formulated with Sepivac SWE™, an adjuvant co-developed by VFI and Seppic. The new vaccine candidate will be developed to broaden the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern, and VFI will provide its expertise on formulation to develop a one-vial formulation vaccine.

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European Commission (EC) / Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

EHVA

The European HIV Alliance (EHVA) promotes the development of an effective HIV vaccine.

EHVA

EHVA comprises 41 partners and is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. VFI is providing its adjuvants and expertise to assess adjuvanted HIV vaccine candidates.

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ISIDORe

“Integrated Services for Infectious Disease Outbreak Research” is an EU-funded large-scale project which assembles an unprecedented One Health-driven, integrated portfolio of cutting-edge research services and resources, dedicated to the study of epidemic-prone diseases including SARS-CoV-2 variants.

ISIDORe

VFI provides support on adjuvant development, non-GLP in vivo studies, technology transfer of adjuvants and provision of GMP adjuvant for use in clinical studies.

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BAXERNA

BAXERNA aims to develop the next-generation mRNA vaccines against bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium ulcerans, and Acinetobacter baumannii.

BAXERNA

BAXERNA is a collaborative project on novel mRNA-based bacterial vaccine development, funded by the European Commission (EU’s Horizon Europe) and the Swiss government (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). In this project VFI will develop analytical methods for various lipid-based mRNA formulations, and characterize their physicochemical properties, composition, and stability.

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TBVAC-Horizon

TBVAC-Horizon aims to better decipher the lung immunity in tuberculosis and establish a diverse vaccine pipeline against tuberculosis through mucosal immunity.

TBVAC-Horizon

TBVAC-Horizon is a collaborative project on TB vaccine development, funded by the European Commission (EU’s Horizon Europe) and the Swiss government (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). In this project, VFI will provide a portfolio of new adjuvants including Th-17 inducing adjuvants along with formulation expertise.

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UltiMalVax

UltiMalVax aims to develop a next-generation two-stage vaccine against Malaria.

UltiMalVax

UltiMalVax is a collaborative project on Malaria vaccine development, led by Prof. Adrian Hill at the University of Oxford, funded by the European Commission (EU’s Horizon Europe) and the Swiss government (State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). In this project VFI will provide adjuvant and formulation expertise to develop adjuvanted Malaria vaccine formulations which will be evaluated in clinical studies. VFI will also investigate sustainable alternatives to immunostimulants composing the adjuvant formulations.

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OptiViVax

OptiViVax aims to optimize a highly efficacious Plasmodium vivax Malaria vaccine.

OptiViVax

OptiViVax is a collaborative project on Malaria vaccine development led by Prof. Simon Draper, University of Oxford, funded by the European Commission (EU’s Horizon Europe) and the Swiss government (State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation). In this project, VFI will optimize the formulation of Plasmodium vivax vaccine candidates. VFI will also investigate sustainable alternatives to immunostimulants composing the adjuvant formulations.

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National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Adjuvants for Group A Streptococcal Vaccines (GAS)

This project aims to identifying the effective adjuvanted Group A Streptococcal (GAS) vaccines.

Adjuvants for Group A Streptococcal Vaccines (GAS)

This project is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is co-led by the University of California, USA and the University of Queensland, Australia. This project aims at identifying the most effective adjuvants for a panel of leading Group A Streptococcal (GAS) vaccine candidates. In this project, VFI will provide adjuvant and formulation expertise to allow the evaluation of GAS vaccine formulations.

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NIH/NIAID Vaccine Adjuvant Development Program

Advanced Development of a Liposome-based Saponin-containing Adjuvant

NIH/NIAID Vaccine Adjuvant Development Program

This project is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/NIAID and is led by VFI to develop an optimized saponin-containing liposomal adjuvant. Together with its partners Desert King International (USA), Karolinska Institute (Sweden), University of Washington (USA) and the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (Canada), VFI will develop an optimized adjuvant for evaluation in clinical studies and ultimately commercialization at a global scale under open-access terms.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)

VAGH

VAGH (VFI Adjuvants for Global Health) aims at developing a broad portfolio of adjuvants for use in Global Health vaccines.

VAGH

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European Commission (EC)

TRANSVAC

TRANSVAC aims at developing a sustainable vaccine infrastructure for Europe.

TRANSVAC

VFI coordinates TRANSVAC activities and provides training as well as adjuvant and formulation services.

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Reference:
Geels, M. J. et al. TRANSVAC research infrastructure – Results and lessons learned from the European network of vaccine research and development. Vaccine 33, 5481–5487 (2015)

ENOVA

ENOVA, the European Network Of Vaccine Adjuvants, was initiated by the VFI team which has gathered a group of European experts and stakeholders working on vaccine adjuvants.

ENOVA

ENOVA is funded by COST (European Cooperation in Science & Technology) and aims to establish a platform to discuss, share and synergize available knowledge on adjuvants and vaccine formulation, and ultimately to coordinate their translation into successful, safe and innovative vaccines.

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Reference:
Schijns, V. et al. Modulation of immune responses using adjuvants to facilitate therapeutic vaccination. Immunol Rev 296, 169–190 (2020) and Lemoine, C. et al. Technological Approaches for Improving Vaccination Compliance and Coverage. Vaccines 8, 304 (2020)