(Eagle News) — The UK government has launched a “new Vaccine Taskforce” meant to “drive forward, expedite and co-ordinate efforts to research and then produce a coronavirus vaccine.”
In a statement, the UK government revealed that “21 new research projects combating coronavirus will receive government funding from a £14 million pot investment to rapidly progress treatments and vaccines.”
“This follows the government’s £250 million pledge to develop a vaccine, putting the UK at the forefront of international efforts to fight the virus,” it said.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said that the rapid development and production of a coronavirus vaccine will be driven by the new government-led Vaccine Taskforce to combat COVID-19.
The taskforce is led by Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan van Tam.
It will support “efforts to rapidly develop a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible by providing industry and research institutions with the resources and support needed.”
“This includes reviewing regulations and scaling up manufacturing, so that when a vaccine becomes available, it can be produced quickly and in mass quantities,” the UK government announced in a release.
“We’re doing everything possible to save lives and beat this disease, and that includes working flat out with businesses, researchers and industry to find a vaccine as quickly as possible,” UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said.
-UK contributing to global efforts to find vaccine –
The UK is world-leading in developing vaccines.
“We are the biggest contributor to the global effort – and preparing to ensure we can manufacture vaccines here at home as soon as practically possible,” Hancock added.
Sharma said that “UK scientists are working as fast as they can to find a vaccine that fights coronavirus, saving and protecting people’s lives.”
“We stand firmly behind them in their efforts.”
He explained that the Vaccine Taskforce will be able to coordinate efforts “to rapidly accelerate the development and manufacture of a potential new vaccine, so we can make sure it is widely available to patients as soon as possible.”
The UK government said that the announcement on the creation of the Vaccine Task Force is part of the government’s wider efforts to support and speed up the development of a vaccine against COVID-19.
The UK has already pledged £250 million from the government aid budget, the biggest donation by any country, to the international programme to develop a coronavirus vaccine under the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Representatives from the UK government, academia and industry are coming together to form the taskforce. Members will include government Life Sciences Champion Sir John Bell, as well as AstraZeneca, and the Wellcome Trust.
– Task Force to focus on five strands-
The UK government said that the taskforce will focus on five strands of activity including:
• supporting the discovery of potential coronavirus vaccines by working with the public and private sector, rapidly mobilizing funding, supporting leading academics and identifying ways to fast-track clinical trials
• preparing the UK as a leader in clinical vaccine testing and manufacturing, working with companies already at the forefront of vaccine development
• reviewing government regulations to facilitate rapid and safe vaccine trials
• developing funding and operational plans for the procurement and delivery of vaccines
• building on the UK’s research and development expertise to support international efforts to find a coronavirus vaccine
The taskforce is also working closely with the Bioindustry Association, which has set up an industry-led group, to accelerate vaccine development and manufacturing.
The UK government on April 17 announced 21 new coronavirus research projects set to benefit from a share of around £14 million in government funding.
One new project is led by the University of Oxford which will trial an anti-malarial drug believed to have anti-inflammatory properties to determine whether it could diminish the effects of COVID-19 on people in high risk groups.
The UK release said that “GP surgeries across the UK have been invited to take part in this ground-breaking trial, to ascertain whether it could reduce the need for affected patients to go to hospital and speed up their recovery.”
Other projects receiving vital UK government funding from this include the following:
• Imperial College London testing a vaccine against coronavirus that aims for the body to produce more protective antibodies
• Public Health England developing a new antibody that could offer protection against infection and disease progression of coronavirus
• Public Health England studying how COVID-19 can be transmitted from person-to-person by determining how long it can survive in the air and on different materials found in hospitals and households like fabric, plastics, metals and ceramics
This follows an initial £10.5 million allocated to 6 promising coronavirus projects in March, 2 of which are enabling pre-clinical and clinical vaccine trials, as well as supporting researchers to develop manufacturing processes to produce a vaccine at a million-dose scale.
As of Sunday, April 19, the UK has more than 115,000 COVID-19 cases, with virus-related deaths reaching 15,498, according to the virus dashboard of the Johns Hopkins University.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is still recovering from COVID-19 after he was discharged from the hospital last week.
The UK government has extended its lockdown first issued on March 23 at least until the end of April.
(Eagle News Service)
