The Vaccine Formulation Laboratory is facilitating access to adjuvants that are either not covered by intellectual property rights or can be made readily available under licence agreements, and is providing support for vaccine formulation. BI6727 This activity was initiated as a part of TRANSVAC, a collaborative

infrastructure project funded under the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme. The laboratory will also provide practical training courses on vaccine formulation, the first of which is scheduled for 2012. One challenge in the field of vaccine adjuvants is the lack of comparative data that would facilitate their preclinical selection. The Vaccine Formulation Laboratory is engaged in the development of an immunological read-out methodology for harmonized adjuvant evaluation and down-selection GSK1349572 by collaborating in the PHARVAT project with the Biomedical Primate Research Center (Rijswijk, The Netherlands), the European Vaccine Initiative (Heidelberg, Germany) and WHO. The results from this project will be published and adjuvants, antigens, reference sera and the immunization protocol will be made available to allow adjuvant and vaccine developers to test their products in direct comparison with PHARVAT’s reference materials. Adjuvants

are increasingly being used in modern vaccinology. However, aside from aluminium salts, which have been in use since the 1920s, very few adjuvant technologies are readily accessible to the public sector, small biotechnology companies or DCVMs. Although this situation is evolving, as several vaccine adjuvant systems are now (or soon will be) in the public domain, access to adjuvants is only of value if accompanied by access to vaccine formulation Calpain know-how. The establishment of a platform to transfer adjuvant technology and formulation expertise

to public sector vaccine developers and DCVMs addresses these needs. As demonstrated by the success of the International Technology Platform for Influenza Vaccines at NVI, a centralized hub with specific pilot-plant material and hands-on training courses is sustainable when there is demand for the technology. Several DCVMs have already indicated interest in acquiring the adjuvant technology developed at the Vaccine Formulation Laboratory for their pandemic influenza preparedness plans. The oil-in-water technology will be transferred to new beneficiaries and programmes targeting other diseases are also being considered. The authors state they have no conflict of interest. The authors thank the World Health Organization for continuing support and collaboration. The technology transfer project described is supported by Grant Number 1IDSEP100009-01-00 from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S.