UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
Fifty years of research-driven vaccine innovation

VIDO is developing novel vaccine platforms for the future. "By using high performance and quantum computing and artificial intelligence, we can predict what tomorrow's pathogens look like and develop vaccine platforms that protect against multiple pathogens, including future pathogens, at the same time", says Volker Gerdts, VIDO's Director and CEO.

Dr. Volker Gerdts. (Photo: Submitted)

VIDO's platform vaccine project is among the latest in a long list of projects - and accomplishments - over the institute's 50-year history. Since it launched in 1975 as a research centre focused on livestock diseases, VIDO has grown into a world-class R&D powerhouse known globally for its innovations in infectious diseases that affect both animals and humans - a logical evolution given that an estimated two-thirds of all human pathogens originate in animals.

The organization's 50-year history is marked with numerous groundbreaking achievements, including eight commercial animal vaccines, six of which were the first of their kind in the world. These innovations have helped strengthen food security by protecting the herds and flocks that make up part of the food supply chain.

In 2020, VIDO gained even more prominence as the first research group in Canada to isolate the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic and, shortly after, became the first university in the country to launch clinical trials for a COVID vaccine candidate.

"With our new facilities set to open soon, VIDO is now being increasingly viewed around the world as an organization that can quickly and successfully develop new vaccines and other infectious disease countermeasures in-house."

Dr. Volker Gerdts

"We developed a vaccine within less than a year. Then, we partnered with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations [CEPI], the world's largest organization focused on the development of vaccines and other measures to address a pandemic, to develop a vaccine that will protect against current and future coronaviruses," recalls Dr. Gerdts.

Post-pandemic, VIDO continues to lead in the global fight against infectious diseases. Last year, it was one of six institutes in the world to respond to an outbreak of bird flu among dairy cows in the United States - an incident that contradicted long-held beliefs that cattle could not be affected by avian influenza.

The outbreak, which caused severe udder infections and significantly reduced milk production among more than 800 U.S. dairy cattle herds, spurred research at VIDO that led to an important finding: dairy cows can develop immunity after initial exposure, which meant a vaccine could be effective in managing avian flu outbreaks.

"We demonstrated that these cattle can be protected, which lays the foundation for the development of vaccines for avian influenza in cattle," says Dr. Gerdts.

VIDO is developing novel vaccine platforms for the future. (Photo: VIDO)

A big focus today for VIDO is its work on the next-generation coronavirus vaccine that will protect against future coronaviruses but also reduce the number of vaccinations as each next-generation vaccine offers broader protections. This work, says Dr. Gerdts, is all about preparing for the next major infectious disease and preventing another pandemic. 

A key factor driving VIDO's past and future success is its team of world-leading scientists, trainees, technicians and staff, which has grown to more than 200 today. Ongoing investments in leading-edge research infrastructure is also critical. In recent years, VIDO has received more than $150 million in federal, provincial, municipal and private funding for new infrastructure.

USask President Peter Stoicheff. (Photo: Submitted)

In addition to the sustained funding needed for world-class infrastructure, University of Saskatchewan President Peter Stoicheff believes addressing health challenges like pandemics requires a collaborative approach.  

"We talk about being the university the world needs," he says. "That's not a boast; it's an aspiration. What it means is to look at all our research expertise to see how we can find solutions to some of the major global problems we face today."

Beyond formulating a response based on scientific excellence, challenges like "the next pandemic the global population will inevitably face cannot be met by a single discipline or a single university. We have to build relationships with experts from across disciplines and with organizations around the world," says Dr. Stoicheff, adding that Dr. Gerdts and his team have been particularly successful in relationship-building.

"There are hundreds of examples of formal working relationships VIDO has with high-level labs around the world," Dr. Stoicheff says, giving the example of VIDO's participation in CEPI's strategy that sets the goal to "prepare, transform and connect the world to respond to the next disease threat with a new vaccine in just 100 days."

Since it launched in 1975 as a research centre focused on livestock diseases, VIDO has grown into a world-class R&D powerhouse. (Photo: VIDO)

Construction is now underway on a new containment level 4 research lab, the highest level of pathogen containment, and animal housing facility which will increase housing capacity six-fold and allow for a broader range of species. These infrastructure upgrades will build on the 2022 launch of VIDO's Vaccine Development Centre, a manufacturing facility licensed to manufacture prototypes of human vaccines which can be used for early-phase clinical trials. For animal vaccines, the centre can go all the way to commercial manufacturing.

"By being vertically integrated,  we will be able to respond to any  new pathogen - whether it's a human or animal pathogen, use all species that are relevant for infectious disease research, from mosquitoes and ticks to bats and non-human primates, demonstrate proof-of-concept in our animal models and then manufacture these vaccines in house, which saves critical time. And time is of essence when it comes to new diseases," says Dr. Gerdts. "This is a truly exciting moment for VIDO, the University of Saskatchewan and the many collaborators we work with in Canada and around the world."

This combination of world-leading scientists, advanced research infrastructure and manufacturing will give VIDO end-to-end capabilities in vaccine research and development. Once a vaccine candidate is identified, VIDO can conduct testing in animal models to show proof of concept, then manufacture a prototype that can be advanced quickly into clinical testing. He notes that the first commercial vaccines for COVID-19 originated in research centres - one at Oxford University in the United Kingdom and the other at the National Institutes of Health Vaccine Research Center in the U.S. - that had all of these critical capabilities. "With our new facilities set to open soon, VIDO is now being increasingly viewed around the world as an organization that can quickly and successfully develop new vaccines and other infectious disease countermeasures in-house."

In addition to world-class infrastructure, what enables VIDO to thrive is "a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary environment," says Dr. Stoicheff. Among the facilities and expertise supporting scientific breakthroughs are the Sylvia Fedoruk Canadian Centre for Nuclear Innovation, which has a cyclotron, the Canadian Light Source, the country's only synchrotron, and the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, where VIDO originated five decades ago.

"[VIDO] attracts top talent from across Canada and from 36 countries around the world, adding to our reputation for research excellence and our diversity on campus. It's a very symbiotic relationship."

Peter Stoicheff

Complementary expertise also comes from "a whole suite of health science disciplines, including the School of Public Health, and a strong computer science department," he adds.

"We embrace a highly collaborative approach at the university, and this supports VIDO's success," Dr. Stoicheff says. "On the flip side, the university also benefits immensely from having VIDO here. The organization attracts top talent from across Canada and from 36 countries around the world, adding to our reputation for research excellence and our diversity on campus. It's a very symbiotic relationship."

Half a century after its founding, VIDO is ready to take on the new challenges of an ever-changing infectious disease landscape. With its world-renowned expertise in animal and human infectious diseases and vaccines, and a rapidly growing infrastructure network of leading-edge research centres, animal housing facilities, and manufacturing operations, VIDO is well positioned to protect Canada - and the rest of the world - from the next pandemic.