Oxford Vaccine Group

Last updated

Oxford Vaccine Group
Formation1994
PurposeResearch and clinical trials
Location
Director
Professor Andrew J Pollard
Parent organization
University of Oxford
AffiliationsUKCRC registered
Staff
75
Website www.ovg.ox.ac.uk

The Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) is a vaccine research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1994 by Professor E. Richard Moxon, was initially based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, and moved in 2003 to its current location in the Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine (CCVTM) at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England. [1] The group, led by Professor Andrew Pollard since 2001, comprises around 75 members across a number of disciplines, including consultants in paediatrics and vaccinology, clinical research fellows, research nurses, statisticians, post-doctoral laboratory scientists, research assistants and DPhil students.

Contents

OVG came to public prominence in 2020 for the vaccine it created to combat COVID-19.

Aims and background

OVG carries out research on vaccines to improve human health. It works to enhance the understanding of immunity, studies the epidemiology of infectious diseases, and conducts clinical trials into new and improved vaccines for children and adults. Research by Richard Moxon into the public health impact of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) invasive disease in the UK, and efficacy studies of the Hib conjugate vaccine in UK children, led to the founding of OVG in 1994. [2] Since then OVG has particularly specialised in research into meningococcal disease and vaccines to prevent the disease. OVG has been involved with the development of the new vaccine against MenB which was licensed in Europe in 2013. [3] [4] The Group has also carried out research on pneumococcal vaccines, typhoid vaccines and, more recently, new vaccines against Ebola.

OVG is a research group within the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Oxford. It is a UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) registered clinical trials unit working in collaboration with the Primary Care Unit Clinical Trials Unit (Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences) and the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford. [5] [6] It is also a participant in the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group (UKPVG) [7] and contributes to the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust’s tertiary Paediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology Service. [8] All OVG trials are listed on the UK Clinical Trials Gateway. OVG supports the All Trials Campaign. [9]

Professor Andrew Pollard, OVG’s Director, was appointed Chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in March 2014. [10] Senior staff at OVG are periodically asked to give expert opinions on aspects of vaccines and infectious disease, especially meningococcal disease. For example the 2015 announcement that 14- to 18-year-olds in the UK are to be vaccinated against MenW disease, [11] and the 2012 European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation for approval of a new meningitis B vaccine. [12]

Research activity

Since 2001, OVG has enrolled over 12,500 adults and children into clinical trials in the Thames Valley area of England. OVG research has included:

Funding

The OVG is funded not only by its alma mater and UK government bodies such as the Medical Research Council (MRC), National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and Public Health England (PHE), [29] but also private UK charities like the Wellcome Trust, Meningitis Research Foundation, Meningitis UK and Action Medical Research. [30]

The group has earned attention from international funders like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as undisclosed vaccine manufacturers. [30]

The probable commercial success of the ChAdOx1-based AZD1222 product led the BMGF to prod the OVG into a deal with AstraZeneca under which the financial reward would be split between partners, instead of "donat(ing) the rights to its promising coronavirus vaccine to any drugmaker" in a misguided effort "to provide medicines preventing or treating COVID-19 at a low cost or free of charge." Under the extant deal, the OVG (or the trustees of Oxford University) will have another revenue stream with which to finance its activities. [31]

Vaccine Knowledge Project

In 2011, the group launched the Vaccine Knowledge Project, funded by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. [32] The project website aims to provide independent, evidence-based information about vaccines and infectious diseases. The NHS Choices website lists the Vaccine Knowledge website as a recommended external link on several of its pages. [33] [34] [35] The website has also been referenced in the national media in the UK, particularly during the 2014-15 US measles outbreak originating in Disneyland California. [36] [37] The project is a member of the Vaccine Safety Net. [38]

Awards

In November 2021 the team were awarded a Pride of Britain Award for their work on the COVID-19 vaccine. [39]

Related Research Articles

MeNZB was a vaccine against a specific strain of group B meningococcus, used to control an epidemic of meningococcal disease in New Zealand. Most people are able to carry the meningococcus bacteria safely with no ill effects. However, meningococcal disease can cause meningitis and sepsis, resulting in brain damage, failure of various organs, severe skin and soft-tissue damage, and death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meningococcal disease</span> Often life-threatening bacterial infection

Meningococcal disease describes infections caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. It has a high mortality rate if untreated but is vaccine-preventable. While best known as a cause of meningitis, it can also result in sepsis, which is an even more damaging and dangerous condition. Meningitis and meningococcemia are major causes of illness, death, and disability in both developed and under-developed countries.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee that advises United Kingdom health departments on immunisation, making recommendations concerning vaccination schedules and vaccine safety. It has a statutory role in England and Wales, and health departments in Scotland and Northern Ireland may choose to accept its advice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hib vaccine</span> Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine

The Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine, also known as Hib vaccine, is a vaccine used to prevent Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection. In countries that include it as a routine vaccine, rates of severe Hib infections have decreased more than 90%. It has therefore resulted in a decrease in the rate of meningitis, pneumonia, and epiglottitis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JN-International Medical Corporation</span> Pharmaceutical company in Nebraska, United States

JN-International Medical Corporation (JNIMC) is a U.S.-based biopharmaceutical corporation which since 1998 has been focused on developing vaccines and diagnostics for infectious disease for developing countries. This private corporation was founded in 1998 by Dr. Jeeri R. Reddy with the help of Dr. Kelly F. Lechtenberg in a small rural town, Oakland, Nebraska. From there it grew and expanded until in the year 2000 the corporation moved to Omaha, Nebraska.

NmVac4-A/C/Y/W-135 is the commercial name of the polysaccharide vaccine against the bacterium that causes meningococcal meningitis. The product, by JN-International Medical Corporation, is designed and formulated to be used in developing countries for protecting populations during meningitis disease epidemics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeeri R. Reddy</span>

Jeeri Reddy an American biologist who became an entrepreneur, developing new generation preventive and therapeutic vaccines. He has been an active leader in the field of the biopharmaceutical industry, commercializing diagnostics and vaccines through JN-International Medical Corporation. He is the scientific director and president of the corporation that created the world's first serological rapid tests for Tuberculosis to facilitate acid-fast bacilli microscopy for the identification of smear-positive and negative cases. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV was achieved in South East Asia by the use of rapid tests developed by Reddy in 1999. Reddy through his Corporation donated $173,050 worth of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria in Zambia and actively participated in the prevention of child deaths due to Malaria infections. Reddy was personally invited by the president, George W. Bush, and First Lady Laura Bush to the White House for Malaria Awareness Day sponsored by US President Malaria Initiative (PMI) on Wednesday, April 25, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meningitis</span> Inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord

Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasionally photophobia.

Meningococcal vaccine refers to any vaccine used to prevent infection by Neisseria meningitidis. Different versions are effective against some or all of the following types of meningococcus: A, B, C, W-135, and Y. The vaccines are between 85 and 100% effective for at least two years. They result in a decrease in meningitis and sepsis among populations where they are widely used. They are given either by injection into a muscle or just under the skin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African meningitis belt</span> Region of Africa with high rate of incidence of meningitis

The African meningitis belt is a region in sub-Saharan Africa where the rate of incidence of meningitis is very high. It extends from Senegal to Ethiopia, and the primary cause of meningitis in the belt is Neisseria meningitidis.

The Australian Vaccination-risks Network Inc., formerly known as the Australian Vaccination-Skeptics Network (AVsN), and before that known as the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN), is an Australian anti-vaccination pressure group registered in New South Wales. As Australia's most controversial anti-vaccination organisation, it has lobbied against a variety of vaccination-related programs, downplayed the danger of childhood diseases such as measles and pertussis, championed the cause of alleged vaccination victims, and promoted the use of ineffective alternatives such as homeopathy.

MenAfriVac is a vaccine developed for use in sub-Saharan Africa for children and adults between 9 months and 29 years of age against meningococcal bacterium Neisseria meningitidis group A. The vaccine costs less than US$0.50 per dose.

Warnings About Vaccination Expectations NZ (WAVESnz), formerly the Immunisation Awareness Society (IAS), is a New Zealand anti-vaccination lobby group.

Keith Neal FFPHM FRCP DM is emeritus professor in the epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham. He previously worked as a consultant epidemiologist for the Field Epidemiology Service of Public Health England.

Nicola Mary Turner is a New Zealand public health advocate who is a Professor at the University of Auckland and Medical Director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, an organisation that advises the New Zealand medical profession and the New Zealand Government. She has contributed to advisory committees for the New Zealand Ministry of Health, is a spokesperson for the Child Poverty Action Group and works in general practice. Much of her research and outreach has focused on improving immunisation coverage and closing equity gaps for the national schedule vaccine delivery in New Zealand and she has commented publicly on these issues during COVID-19 in New Zealand.

Sir Andrew John Pollard is the Ashall Professor of Infection & Immunity at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. He is an Honorary Consultant Paediatrician at John Radcliffe Hospital and the Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group. He is the Chief Investigator on the University of Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine trials and has led research on vaccines for many life-threatening infectious diseases including typhoid fever, Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, streptococcus pneumoniae, pertussis, influenza, rabies, and Ebola.

Helen Aspasia Petousis-Harris is a New Zealand vaccinologist and associate professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland. She has been involved in research related to vaccination in New Zealand since 1998, with her main areas of focus being vaccine safety and effectiveness. Petousis-Harris has had a variety of lead roles in New Zealand and international organisations that focus on vaccination and is a regular media spokesperson in this field, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shabir Madhi</span> South African physician and professor

Shabir Ahmed Madhi, is a South African physician who is professor of vaccinology and director of the South African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, and National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases. In January 2021, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Green Book (immunisation guidance, UK)</span> Book about vaccination

Immunisation against infectious disease, popularly known as The Green Book, provides information on vaccines for vaccine-preventable diseases. It acts as a guide to the UK's vaccination schedule for health professionals and health departments that give vaccines in the United Kingdom.

Helen Siobhan Marshall is an Australian medical researcher who is Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Adelaide. She was named the South Australian of the Year for 2022.

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