£19.7m funding boost for Porton Down to help develop Covid 19 vaccine
Scientists at the Wiltshire base are playing a key role in the international hunt for a vaccine
Last updated 22nd Oct 2020
he investment from the government will fund vital equipment and a new state of the art laboratory facility at Porton Down
That will help scientists at Public Health England (PHE) increase the pace and scale of testing blood samples from clinical trials.
Staff there are measuring the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines currently in development.
PHE’s partner, Nexelis, will be providing scientific expertise and also conducting additional testing.
The new investment will enable PHE Porton Down scientists to increase testing capacity, including evaluating individuals’ immune responses as part of the Human Challenge project.
That's where volunteers are given one of the vaccines being developed and deliberatley infected with Covid-19 to see whether it works.
Head of Vaccine Research Projects at PHE Porton Down, Bassam Hallis said:
"This investment will accelerate the development of potentially life-saving vaccines to help get them to the public more quickly."
Salisbury's MP John Glen has tweeted to say he's "very pleased" that Porton Down will receive additional funding.