IQur-Universal Flu Vax29 May 2016 14:58
Dr Mike Whelan
Universal flu vaccine: bringing an end to the annual flu jab
FLUTCORE’s aim is to develop a powerful new universal influenza vaccine that could replace the need for the annual flu jab.
FLUTCORE is a consortium of seven partners from four European countries, led by a UK-based business iQur Ltd and includes University College London (UCL) and the University of Leeds.
Dr Mike Whelan is the research director at iQur Ltd and the project co-ordinator for the FLUTCORE consortium:
Access to knowledge and contacts
“This project wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the European Union. I say to everyone who asks me, it’s the access to knowledge that matters – it’s not just about the funding. This knowledge has taken us to the next level.”
Dr Whelan’s consortium showcases the powerful effect working on a continental scale can have. His team includes experts based in Leeds and in Latvia, UCL’s bioengineering department, a state-of-the-art genetic sequencing lab in Luxembourg, and world-class clinical testing and manufacturers in Spain.
EU support has given Dr Whelan’s team access to previously unknown contacts, knowledge and technologies, as well as lending international profile to his research. For example, his genetic sequencing colleagues in Luxembourg approached him after reading the project’s updates to the EU.
Dr Whelan is convinced that he wouldn’t get partnerships like these if the UK left the EU, even if national funding were available: “We wouldn’t get the critical mass,” he says.
The scale of the EU makes it possible to manufacture the vaccine on an industrial scale. The UK simply doesn’t have the manufacturing base necessary for his plans – and his Luxembourg colleagues are “working at a level we don’t have in the UK at the moment”.
Real life impact
Whelan’s team is now gearing up to manufacture the universal flu vaccine.
“This is a project that has real life impact for people’s health, but it will also have a positive financial impact on our health service because those annual flu vaccine drives will be a thing of the past.
“And for us personally, people are beginning to sit up and take notice of our work. And it was the EU that did that for us.”
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