Imperial College London pledges low-cost access to COVID-19 vaccine

Imperial has formed a new social enterprise, VacEquity Global Health (VGH), in a bid to accelerate global distribution of its vaccine and also support new research.

As part of this initiative, royalties for the vaccine will be waived and Imperial will charge ‘modest cost-plus prices to sustain the enterprise’s work’, it said in a statement yesterday.

The VGH’s mission is to fast-track the development of vaccines to prevent the SARS-CoV-2 infection, which causes the disease COVID-19, and ensure wide-spread distribution in the UK and low- and middle-income countries across the world.

According to the New York Times, Imperial’s technology could develop a cheaper vaccine which is easier to make than other candidates. As result, Imperial’s low-cost vaccine would appeal to donor organisations that supply low-income countries, as well as offer wealthy countries an alternative, lower-cost product.

“Somebody who’s developing a product that’s going to have a very high cost will actually ultimately lose out if the high-volume market doesn’t support that,” said Robin Shattock, the lead scientist on the COVID-19 vaccine project at Imperial.

Imperial’s COVID-19 vaccine is set to begin phase 1/2 human trials on 15 June, involving 300 participants. A larger efficacy trial, with 6,000 participants, is due to begin in October. If the vaccine proves effective in these trials, it can then be distributed in the UK and abroad by early 2021.

The VGH mission is supported by Morningside Ventures, a global life science investor founded and based in Hong Kong. Morningside and Imperial are also launching another start-up company, VaXEquity (VXT), to develop the underlying self-amplifying RNA technology of the COVID-19 vaccine to treat other health conditions.

“These new UK enterprises will fight disease, create thousands of jobs and fast-track scientific advances. We are determined to both defeat the current coronavirus and improve the world’s readiness to fight pandemics for generations to come,” said Alice Gast, president of Imperial College London.

“Professor Shattock’s team shows Imperial at its best: turning cutting-edge discoveries into practical applications that improve lives. We are proud of, and grateful to, the many researchers, students, taxpayers, philanthropists and investors who have helped us reach this promising stage,” she added.