Cutting-edge vaccine laboratory gets $25M additional funding

Saskatoon, SK – The International Vaccine Centre (InterVac), a soon-to-be-constructed vaccine research and development facility at the University of Saskatchewan, is receiving $25 million in additional funding from the federal government.

The centre will focus on vaccine development for both animal and human pathogens. It will be fully equipped to act as a Level 3 high-containment large animal vaccine testing facility with facilities to house up to 180 cows or 5000 chickens. When completed, InterVac will be one of the largest vaccine research labs in North America with leading-edge facilities the university says are unavailable elsewhere on the continent.

Construction of the facility is expected to begin in spring 2007 and be completed in three years. The laboratory will be owned and operated by the University of Saskatchewan.

The InterVac project was developed by the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO), a non-profit organization owned by the University of Saskatchewan. In 2005, InterVac received $24 million funding from the federal government and $19.2 million from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).