And the award goes to...Hilleman Laboratories
26 April 2010
The MSD-Wellcome Trust Hilleman Laboratories were established in September 2009, marking the first time a research charity and a pharmaceutical company have partnered to form a separate entity with equal roles in funding and decision making.
The joint venture has a not-for-profit mission to focus on developing affordable vaccines for diseases that commonly affect low-income countries.
Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust said: "It is an honour to have the partnership behind the Hilleman Laboratories recognised among world leaders in vaccine research.
"Merck's history of innovation and contributions to global health is the ideal complement to the Wellcome Trust's long-term commitment to research excellence and its application in ways that benefit individuals and communities with the greatest unmet needs in health. This partnership gives us a real opportunity to harness the spectrum of expertise needed to deliver new vaccines that can reduce the burden of infectious diseases in low-income countries."
As well as developing new vaccines in areas of unmet medical need, the Hilleman Laboratories will also work on optimising existing vaccines with a view to increasing the impact of vaccination in resource-limited settings.
Now in their third year, the Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards were set up to recognise the outstanding achievements of vaccine practitioners and stakeholders across the global industry. This year's awards were announced at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington earlier this week.
