$15 million is being committed by the Saskatchewan government to provide further financial support towards pandemic research by the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) located at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).
The funding will support VIDO’s Centre for Pandemic Research, which will include an upgrade to Level 4 containment facilities. According to the government, containment Level 4 laboratories provide the capability to work safely with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases. Currently, the only level 4 facility in Canada is the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.
“COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of Canada being a leader in research, development and production of new vaccines,” stated Premier Scott Moe on Tuesday. “The place that should happen is right here in Saskatchewan, at VIDO-InterVac in Saskatoon. VIDO has made world-first breakthroughs and achieved significant momentum in vaccine and disease research, most recently with COVID-19 vaccine development, and this new facility will strengthen their position as Canada’s Centre for Pandemic Research.”
Premier Scott Moe (left) and Dr. Volker Gerdts (right) of VIDO announce details of the $15-million commitment in funding from the provincial government to the research centre on Feb. 23, 2021. (Photo: Government of Saskatchewan/Facebook)
VIDO Director and CEO Dr. Volker Gerdts described Tuesday’s funding commitment from the provincial government as “exciting news” for the centre. He said the funding will allow the facility to establish a Canadian centre for pandemic research right at USask.
Gerdts added that this will benefit all Canadians and the country’s livestock.
“This facility will focus on both human and animal diseases, thus having a huge impact on our lives and of our animals,” explained Gerdts. “It will help us to prepare and be better prepared for future emerging diseases that affect humans and animals.”
VIDO was originally designed and built to accommodate the possible future enhancement to Level 4 containment capability. This includes 2,000 square feet of existing lab space that can be readily upgraded to meet Level 4 containment requirements.
The centre will also provide critical animal housing for multiple species and significantly reduce the time required to advance vaccine development to human clinical trials.
The announcement follows other funding commitments from the City of Saskatoon and significant contributions from several private donors.
Premier Moe has since formally written to the federal government in the hopes they will deliver funding to the centre. VIDO has requested $45 million in federal government support and ongoing operating funding for this project.
“Minister Harrison and I have written to and had conversations with senior federal ministers about this proposal as recent as Monday evening,” mentioned Moe. “We are quite confident that we will be able to obtain the necessary federal support for this project to go ahead.”
The provincial government has provided VIDO with additional funding of $4.2 million to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and construct a new small-scale manufacturing facility to be completed later this year. This funding is in addition to annual operations funding of $3.8 million in 2019-20 and $4.1 million in 2020-21.
