Social equity: imperial’s covid-19 vaccine

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted our lives and endangered the lives of many more across the globe. Vaccination provides the safest, most effective way to protect our lives and communities. Prof. Robin Shattock from Imperial College London developed a COVID-19 vaccine with the intention of supplying it solely through a non-profit, social enterprise delivering the vaccine globally where it is needed the most. As a result, VacEquity Global Health Ltd was born to deliver Imperial COVID-19 to the world. The social enterprise’s mission is to rapidly develop vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and distribute them as widely as possible in the UK and overseas, including to low- and middle-income countries. A novel saRNA vaccine entered clinical trials in June 2020 in the UK and is currently in Phase II assessment. Being self-amplifying RNA technology, the vaccine lends itself to fast manufacturing scale-up and needs only manufacturing facilities with a small footprint.