Valneva Awarded R&D Funding by Scottish Enterprise for Vaccine Development

Valneva, a France-based specialty vaccine company, announced on Feb. 21, 2022 that its subsidiary, Valneva Scotland, has received a research and development (R&D) funding award of up to £20 million (US$27 million) from Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency.

The award will be comprised of two grants that build on Scottish Enterprise’s long-standing engagement with Valneva. The grants will benefit Valneva’s manufacturing site in Livingston, Scotland, and are expected to be received over the next three years, starting in March 2022.

The first grant of up to £12.5 million (US$17 million) will support R&D related to the manufacture of VLA2001, Valneva’s inactivated, whole virus COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The second grant of up to £7.5 million (US$10 million) will support R&D connected to Valneva’s manufacturing processes for other vaccines.

Valneva’s R&D portfolio includes VLA1553, a single-shot vaccine candidate against the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya, which will also be manufactured at the Livingston site. The company reported positive topline Phase III results in 2021 for both VLA2001 and VLA1553.

“This investment bolsters Valneva’s longstanding relationship with Scottish Enterprise as well as our position at the forefront of life sciences and vaccine development in Scotland. From the only inactivated, whole virus COVID-19 vaccine candidate in clinical development in Europe to the most clinically advanced vaccine candidate against chikungunya in the world, Scottish Enterprise’s investment will support progress across Valneva’s research and development portfolio—as well as jobs and growth in Scotland. We are grateful to Scottish Enterprise, and to the Scottish Government, for their continuing support,” said Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva, in a company press release.

“Valneva’s decision to develop and manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine here in Scotland is extremely welcome. It is a huge vote of confidence in our life sciences sector and its highly skilled workforce, with one of the largest and most advanced vaccine manufacturing sites in the world now firmly anchored in Scotland and set to export its life-saving vaccines across the world. We look forward to supporting Valneva’s continued growth in Scotland, and to help it realize its international growth ambitions,” said Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, in the press release.

Source: Valneva