Merck to Collaborate with IVI to Develop Next Generation Purification Processes
Merck and non-profit organisation International Vaccine Institute (IVI) based in Seoul, South Korea, are collaborating to develop a more robust and scalable vaccine manufacturing processes. Merck will provide funding and expertise in areas of clarification and purification under a new research agreement between the two.
The partnership’s goal is to improve the manufacturing process in order to deliver a greater yield, therefore allowing higher recovery and purer vaccines. Many vaccine manufacturers in the US and Western Europe face high manufacturing costs and challenges, which Merck and IVI aim to address.
The project will focus first on a vaccine for typhoid, with the goal of applying findings to processes for pneumococcal, meningococcal, haemophilus, staphylococcus, streptococcus B and other conjugated polysaccharide vaccines.
With a rapidly expanding pipeline of conjugated polysaccharide vaccines, the global pharmaceutical industry needs next-generation processes for clarification and purification to ensure high-quality affordable vaccines.
‘Complex manufacturing processes along with poor yield and recovery result in vaccines that are not easily affordable by resource-challenged countries,’ said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. ‘Through our partnership with IVI, we will help create a more modern, scalable and robust manufacturing process, which in turn will help increase access to life-saving vaccines in developing countries.’
Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, added: ‘We expect that our collaboration with Merck will result in important dividends to a large population of people with unmet medical needs.’