As a key contributor to disease prevention and treatment, vaccines offer low-cost and low-risk options that increase quality of life and reduce health care costs. In partnership with industry, the Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics program develops novel and improved vaccines that prevent viral and bacterial infections and that treat cancer and other chronic diseases.
The Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics program deploys its expertise in immunomodulation, analytics and bioprocessing to enable the Canadian vaccine industry to harness advances in adjuvants, biomarkers and vaccine production. The program's orientation reflects the priorities of industry, which include a strong focus on vaccines that address the needs of adults and the aging population, such as those for cancer and emerging infections.
"NRC understands what we are trying to do and demonstrated remarkable agility in adapting to our needs."
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Collaborate with us
We establish our vaccine development priorities in consultation with the Canadian vaccine industry, as well as by liaising with the Public Health Agency of Canada about national vaccine priorities identified for short, medium, and long term development.
Collaboration opportunities
We are seeking collaborators to work with us on the following priorities:
- Cancer vaccines and immunotherapeutics;
- Infectious disease vaccines: antimicrobial resistance, emerging infections;
- Vaccines against chronic immune disorders.
Research services and facilities
We offer unparalleled expertise and leading-edge facilities in:
- Vaccine formulation and immunomodulation: portfolio of antigens, adjuvants, and vectors or custom development;
- Biomanufacturing: production of vaccines and virus-like particles (VLPs) in bacterial, mammalian, insect and viral vector expression systems, with scale up in our Microbial Fermentation Pilot Plant or Cell Culture Pilot Plant;
- Biomarkers and analytics: from target discovery to characterisation for clinical trials
- Immune monitoring and efficacy: expertise in Functional Characterization and access to the Preclinical in vivo Facility.
Collaborator benefits
NRC serves as an integrated R&D extension to your team. We can de-risk product development, add significant value to vaccine candidates, and accelerate their progress through every step of the value chain, up to early clinical trials.
Our business specialists have established best practices to guide the management and commercialization of intellectual property for co-developed products and enabling technologies.
We observe the rigorous standards set forth by Health Canada's Biologics and Genetic Therapies Directorate (BGTD), ensuring that all our co-developed products meet their regulatory approval requirements to be sold in Canada and other jurisdictions. Canadian cGMP vaccine manufacturers who benefit from our bioprocessing expertise will be well positioned to supply both domestic and global markets.
Contact us
If you're interested in exploring robust and cost‑effective vaccine production methods, developing more effective approaches to immune monitoring and biomarkers, or connecting with our experts, contact:
Lakshmi Krishnan, Program Leader
Telephone: 613-991-3210
Email: Lakshmi.Krishnan@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Targeted industries
Vaccine developers, vaccine manufacturers, biopharmas, biotechs, biomanufacturers, contract research organizations.
Related links
- Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics program factsheet (PDF, 301.66 KB)