Merck to develop vaccine manufacturing processes with International Vaccine Institute

Merck will provide funding and expertise in the areas of clarification and purification.

The IVI is a nonprofit international organization committed to the discovery, development and delivery of safe, effective and affordable vaccines for global public health. The new collaboration between Merck and IVI is aimed at improving the manufacturing process to deliver greater yield, allowing higher recovery and purer vaccines. Many vaccine manufacturers in the United States and Western Europe face high manufacturing costs, and the partnership aims to address these challenges.

"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."

IVI was founded on the belief that the health of children in developing countries can be dramatically improved through access to new and improved vaccines, according to Jerome Kim, M.D., Director General of IVI. "We expect that our collaboration with Merck will result in important dividends to a large population of people with unmet medical needs," said Kim. "This partnership will help us better address the vaccine needs of low- and middle-income countries and ultimately contribute to our mission."

Initially, the project will focus on a vaccine for typhoid, with the goal of applying findings to the 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. Through this partnership with IVI, Merck will apply its industry-leading technologies and expertise to this challenge, which in turn will help optimize other vaccine manufacturing processes.

This initiative is part of Merck’s corporate responsibility program which focuses on expanding access to high-quality healthcare, especially in low- and middle-income countries. As part of this initiative, Merck leverages its expertise and collaborates with strong partners to develop solutions for patients in these geographies.