Ministers launch new vaccine taskforce in bid to stop coronavirus ‘as soon as possible’
The move follows a £10.5m handout from government to six coronavirus projects in March.
3 min read
Britain is launching a new taskforce in a bid to find a coronavirus vaccine “as soon as possible”.
The Government said the new expert group would “support efforts to rapidly develop a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible” by aiding researchers and companies as they work to stop the bug.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said 21 research projects focused on combating the disease would be given access to a £14m pot of money as part of efforts to “rapidly accelerate” plans to stop the spread of Covid-19.
A coronavirus vaccine is currently believed to be at least 12 months away from use.
But the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said its new team would pull together officials, academics and organisations including pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and the Wellcome Trust in a bid to speed up development.
Mr Sharma said: “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.
“The Vaccine Taskforce is key to coordinating 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 has some of the best vaccine scientists in the world, but we need to take account of the whole development process" - Chief medical officer Chris Whitty
The team’s work will include carrying out a review of existing vaccine trial regulations and manufacturing methods so that when a vaccine is developed it can be “produced quickly and in mass quantities”, the government said.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the UK was “doing everything possible to save lives and beat this disease”.
He added: “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.”
Patrick Vallance, who will sit on the new taskforce, said the team would “ensure that any potential coronavirus vaccine, when available, can be produced quickly and at scale” with a rapid public roll-out.
Research projects set to benefit from the £14m pot meanwhile include an Oxford University-led trial of an anti-malarial drug with anti-inflammatory properties that may help high-risk patients avoid hospital admissions, while Imperial Colleage London is testing a vaccine that may help the body produce more antibodies to protect against the disease.
The move follows a £10.5m government handout to six coronavirus projects in March, with the Department saying that case was already enabling two projects to entier “pre-clinical and clinical vaccine trials”.
Britain’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said: "The UK has some of the best vaccine scientists in the world, but we need to take account of the whole development process. This taskforce will ensure the UK can take an end-to-end view."
But Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, warned that the development of a usable vaccine was still some way off.
He said: "Making a vaccine is a difficult, complicated process. It doesn’t only have to work, it has to be safe. And of course for a disease like this it has to be very safe if you're going to use it right the way across the population.
"So there’s a lot to do before we’re in that position."
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