The Government wants to fund domestic RNA vaccine research, development and manufacturing capacity to prepare New Zealand for the next pandemic, Marc Daalder reports
New Zealand could rapidly develop and manufacture its own vaccine in response to a future global health threat.
That's one of the aims a project underway to provide funding for domestic RNA vaccine capacity, spanning research, development and production. Documents released to Newsroom under the Official Information Act outline the potential for an RNA industry to aid New Zealand in future pandemics, for clinical trials to be run domestically and for the technology to play a role in animal health as well.
A September 16 briefing to Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods mooted the creation of an RNA platform to be funded through the Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF). Platforms backed by SSIF are defined as "a combination of people, facilities, information and knowledge that provide a particular, ongoing science and innovation capability for New Zealand". The document said this would be in addition to a new infectious diseases platform set up last year, but Woods told Newsroom that the exact details were still being worked through.
"That's exactly the work that we're doing at the moment, to figure out how that's best going to survive. We didn't really have the brought-together capability before 2020 - it existed in the country and we had a lot of expertise, but how do we make sure we continue to have [the Malaghan Institute] talking to [South Pacific Sera co-founder] William Rolleston with the manufacturing capability?"
Graham Le Gros, an immunologist and the director of the Malaghan Institute, told Newsroom he welcomed any additional funding. He was consulted on the proposal during its development, according to the official documents.
"It's absolutely essential for the resilience and future of New Zealand. It's not just about vaccines against infectious diseases for humans, it's also about certain kinds of economically disruptive diseases for livestock. From what we've seen, certainly with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, this is a very safe, very interesting and new therapeutic modality," he said.
The Government does need to be able to reenergise its biotech space and it can democratise health issues if we can get these cheaper, better, more effective drugs both for cancer, brain health and genetic diseases which could potentially be solved by this messenger RNA platform. Bring on the future, you can quote me on that one."
The Malaghan Institute has been developing its own mRNA vaccine which is slated to go into clinical trials by the end of the year. Le Gros said further funding could revolutionise the space, allowing New Zealand companies to develop solutions for New Zealand's problems, also enabling Kiwi research to play a role in RNA projects of global importance.
"There really is a place for small countries or regions to purpose-build certain things for infectious diseases that are relevant to their own scenarios or their own interests. The most major breakthrough with the RNA platform is that you can do small-scale manufacturing. You don't have to have 2000-litre batches like traditional big pharma does. With the RNA technology platform, it can be done at a scale which is doable for a small country like New Zealand."
However, Le Gros worried that big pharmaceutical companies were "locking down" new developments in the space through buyouts and intellectual property protections. Without government funding and regulatory support, New Zealand could be pushed out of the competition.
He also added that while RNA technology was perfectly suited to small-scale manufacturing, it could also be scaled up in times of crisis. The September briefing to Woods made a similar point.
"The establishment of an RNA platform for New Zealand, supported by government, would provide researchers with the key services required to develop a range of human and animal vaccines and therapeutics for RNA delivery through to pilot scale manufacturing. Over time the objective would be to provide the country with a capability to produce RNA vaccines in sufficient quantity for New Zealand should that prove necessary in an epidemic," officials wrote.
The platform would "invest in RNA technology development which would help address goals in areas such as simplifying technology transfer, improving vaccine stability, or developing new delivery systems" but Woods said the main benefit would be bringing together expertise and capability from across the country.
"A funding mechanism that will ensure that we're bringing together New Zealand's best. It's institute-blind - it doesn't matter where people are. Some of it's from industry, some of it's from private research institutes, some of it's from the University of Otago. Some of it will probably be [Crown Research Institutes] if we're thinking about our expertise in animal vaccines," she said.
"I think the most critical thing is that this is not seen as funding that belongs to an institution. It's around this vaccine alliance."
