The company has announced the receipt of a funding award from the UK Vaccine Network program.
This research program is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the UK Vaccine Network (UKVN), a UK Aid programme to develop vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This non-dilutive funding is awarded to Abera’s project, titled “Novel OMV vaccine platform for quick response to Disease X”, aimed at enhancing pandemic preparedness.
This two-year initiative aims to establish a production and storage process for Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMV, Abera’s technology that enables modified bacterial vesicles), enabling its use as a platform for developing new nasal vaccines during pandemic situations. The funding will cover expenses related to salaries, development, and production of materials.
“We are honored that UK Vaccine Network recognizes the potential of our platform and supports its further development to safeguard against Disease X. Our plug’n’play technology enables rapid vaccine development for emerging diseases while ensuring cost-effectiveness. The ability to administer several of our vaccine candidates as nasal sprays provides a unique advantage in combating airborne disease outbreaks, where hindering transmission is of utter importance. Over the next few years, we will enhance OMV production and storage, develop proof-of-concept vaccine candidates for various diseases, and address quality and regulatory aspects to expedite new vaccine creation. We are particularly pleased with the high marks and positive evaluations our technology and team received during the application evaluation, considering the fierce competition within UK research,” says Maria Alriksson, CEO of Abera Bioscience.
A competitive funding opportunity
The “SBRI: Vaccine development for potential epidemic diseases stage 1” call is a competitive funding opportunity, with organizations vying for a total of £25 million to advance vaccine candidates, technologies, and platforms up to phase 1 clinical trials. It is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) competition under the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) umbrella, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) UK Vaccine Network. This initial stage may lead to further funding opportunities in a potential stage two SBRI competition.
Photo of Maria Alriksson
