Saskatoon – A center that can develop up to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine a year has opened in Saskatoon, and officials say it could soon export vaccines to North America and Europe.
Saskatoon – A center that can develop up to 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine a year has opened in Saskatoon, and officials say it could soon export vaccines to North America and Europe.
The University of Saskatchewan’s Organization for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases has completed the construction of its Level 3 containment facility, considered the largest in Canada.
It is capable of producing both human and animal vaccines for dangerous viruses.
“We have the ability to work with these pathogens, to detect, develop new vaccines and then produce them internally, and that saves time, and time is very important during a pandemic,” CEO Walker Gerdts said on Tuesday.
When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic two years ago by the World Health Organization, such a facility was inconceivable in Canada, Gerds said.
“During the pandemic, we relied on other countries to make vaccines for us. We are now changing that and building capacity … to produce vaccines for Canadians in Canada in the future. ”
If this facility had existed at the start of the pandemic, lives could have been saved, said Daniel Vandal, the federal minister responsible for the economic development of the prairies in Canada.
“It became very clear that we needed a little Canadian vaccine production when COVID struck. “We went through several years that were very difficult,” Vandal said.
Gerds said talks were under way with several companies in hopes of making their vaccines against COVID-19 in Saskatchewan.
Any commercial vaccine produced at the facility will meet regulatory requirements for sale in North America and the European Union, said Trina Racine, director of vaccine development at the center.
“It puts us on a better footing to keep Canadians safe and to play a leading role in vaccine production in North America and the world. And for Saskatchewan, it’s a fantastic story. It’s another experience we can learn from this great province, “she said.
Several COVID-19 bioproduction facilities are currently operating in Canada, but Gerds said it was the first of its kind in Saskatoon.
For example, he said, organic production at the Montreal facility could only produce two types of vaccines. While the Saskatoon center can produce mRNA, protein and Novavax vaccines, among others.
“What sets us apart from them is that we can make vaccines for humans and animals in the same facility,” Gerdts said.
He said there was always a risk of diseases and viruses from around the world spreading to North America, and the Saskatoon facility was designed to scan them in real time.
“So pathogens, which require restriction in the future, we can work with here. Because this space already works with the largest restraint facility in Canada, ”Gerds said.
“This facility will allow us to respond quickly to all platforms … and hope to have a vaccine in less than 100 days.”
The center is introducing exotic animals for research, including a colony of bats, as bats are known to host a number of viruses.
Gerds said insects and reptiles are also being imported as climate change continues to create uncertainty about the spread of diseases transmitted by insect vectors such as mosquitoes, ticks and flies.
“It’s great for a research organization like ours to make … vaccines,” Gerdts said. “This is crucial to protecting not only Canadians but also our livestock industry.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 28, 2022.
Mickey Djuric, Canadian Press
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