On Aug. 7, 2023, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) unveiled its world-leading Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC), which is building on its pandemic legacy and helping develop life-saving new vaccines for the UK and worldwide.

The centre is situated at the UKHSA’s Porton Down site, where it is co-located with other services delivered separately by partners including the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

The creation of the centre, in over 2,800 square meters of laboratory space at Porton Down, is a major part of UKHSA’s 3-year strategy and incorporates over 200 leading scientists working on around 100 wide-ranging projects, including tackling deadly pathogens with pandemic potential.

Its work involves supporting the development of new vaccines by testing and evaluating them against threats capable of causing a health emergency. The Centre’s work is conducted throughout the vaccine lifecycle, from early in the vaccine product design through to evaluating vaccine effectiveness, which continues when new variants arise.

In particular, the centre will target pathogens for which a vaccine does not exist or is not regulated in the UK, or could be improved, such as avian influenza, mpox (monkeypox) or hantavirus, a severe infection that can pass from rodents to humans.

Building on capabilities developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to test emerging vaccines against new variants, VDEC has been created to take that work forward and expand its remit to a wide range of other deadly pathogens and diseases.

The centre has a unique set of capabilities specialising in high consequence infectious diseases and working to the highest standards of safety, quality and security, making its research and outputs trusted worldwide.