West Lothian-based vaccine company, Valneva, has been awarded research and development funding of up to £20 million by Scottish Enterprise.
The investment will be made up of two grants which are set to benefit the vaccination manufacturing site in Livingston.
Valneva Scotland is a subsidiary of Valneva SE, a French biotech company with manufacturing sites in Livingston, Solna in Sweden, and Vienna in Austria.
The grants are expected to be received over the next three years, beginning in March this year - and will aid in the production of VLA2001, a new Covid-19 vaccination to be produced at the Livingston site.
The first grant of up to £12,500,000 will support research and development related to the manufacture of VLA2001, Valneva’s inactivated, whole virus COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
The second grant of up to £7,500,000 will support research and development connected to Valneva’s manufacturing processes for other vaccines.
This multi-million pound investment follows on from discussions between the Scottish Government and Valneva reported on December 23, 2021.
The grants signed with Scottish Enterprise are tied to the safeguarding and creation of jobs at Valneva’s Livingston site and, before receiving funds, Valneva must provide a legal opinion and a parent guarantee.
Hannah Bardell, MP for Livingston, added: “I am delighted to see this significant investment in Valneva from Scottish Enterprise.
“This funding will enable Valneva to continue its expansion in Livingston, securing vital vaccine production capabilities and protecting crucial jobs.
“My constituency colleagues and I have long championed Valneva’s work and this investment confirms the company’s place at the forefront of Scottish life sciences.”
Discussions have included the potential supply of the new vaccine to Scotland in the future, as well as an offer from Valneva to make up to 25,000 doses of VLA2001 available, free of charge, to NHS and frontline workers in Scotland.
Valneva also intends to produce a vaccine against mosquito-borne viral infection ‘Chikungunya’ at the Livingston site.
Valneva has so far reported positive topline phase 3 results in 2021 for both the Covid-19 and Chikungunya vaccines.
Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, commented: “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.”
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