MISSION
A nonprofit consortium to improve the effective design, development, deployment and assessment of vaccines
Formed in April, 2007, the Washington Vaccine Alliance will identify, develop, deliver and provide access to services that will accelerate the pathway from research and discovery to deployment and use of vaccines for urgent, unmet medical needs. WAVA efforts will create a lasting infrastructure that will provide both a competitive advantage for this economic cluster of activities and a more effective and efficient mechanism for successful vaccine development.
- Vaccine candidates will be primarily those where the combination of population targets and financial returns will require a partnership of public and private funding throughout most of the development and delivery process.
The primary focus of WAVA is on services that can be executed more effectively or more quickly than those services that are currently available to individual projects or organization efforts and at a competitive cost.
- The goal is to provide development resources and pathways to increase the effectiveness and reduce the time of the overall process – at a competitive cost.
- A particular emphasis will be on services that reduce the risks for the collaborators who take the next step of the vaccine development process.
Success will be measured by the number of vaccines successfully developed and using the science and services of WAVA members.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
These member organizations sponsored the development phase of this initiative. It is expected that as the collaboration grows, there will be other organizations – governments, non-profits and for-profits – that will be included in the alliance.
The vaccine work among all members totals more than $330 million annually and could grow to more than $500 million annually. The total vaccine work over the next five years could exceed $2.3 billion based on current plans. Commitments and investments in vaccine work over the next five years by WAVA member organizations is nearly $16 million, including more than 20 faculty/investigator positions.
WHAT WE DO
The organizations have significant strengths and experience in multiple aspects of vaccine development including discovery, design, early process engineering, immune response measurement, clinical trial design and administration, policy, epidemiology, biostatistics, and delivery in developing countries.
WAVA has vaccine-related work and world leaders in over twenty different diseases such as sexually transmitted infections (Chlamydia, Genital Herpes, HIV, HPV, Syphilis), enteric including zoonotic organisms (Helicobacter, E coli 0157, Rotavirus, Salmonella), Hepatitis C, Influenza, Japanese Encephalitis, Leishmania, Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpes Viruses, Leprosy, Malaria, Pneumococcal, TB, and cancers caused by infectious agents such as cervical, liver, stomach and hematologic cancers.
HOW WE OPERATE
WAVA is governed by an Executive Committee made up of representatives from each member organization. The Executive Committee is responsible for the overall direction of WAVA and for approving project recommendations made by the Science Board.
The Science Board is responsible for reviewing all project proposals for which WAVA funding and infrastructure support will be provided.
The External Advisory Board is comprised of industry, government, and policy experts who provide oversight and guidance to Alliance priorities.
The WAVA core staff includes an Executive Director and a Program Director who provide day-to-day support to the Alliance. Plans are in place to hire a Science Director, Director of Business Development, Project Leaders, a Process Engineer and an IP Manager.