A needle-free vaccine technology manufacturing facility has been officially opened in Queensland.
Deputy Premier, Steven Miles said the Northshore Hamilton facility was set to inject hundreds of millions of dollars into Queensland’s economy.
Brisbane Biotechnology company, Vaxxas, expects to manufacture millions of needle-free vaccine patches at its new Brisbane plant in the next three to five years. The patch technology can deposit a vaccine through the surface of the skin in just seconds.
“Economic Development Queensland worked closely with Vaxxas to progress designs and approval for this facility, so it’s fantastic to be here to open it,” said Mr Miles.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to supporting homegrown biomedical start-ups to scale up successfully and ensure we keep this innovation and our best and brightest researchers on home soil.
“Vaxxas is a terrific example of a local success story that will create highly-skilled jobs in a fast-growing global industry and supercharge the state’s economy.
“This world-renowned technology has the potential to play a vital role in pandemic-preparedness, because it allows vaccines to be deployed quickly and easily to our communities.”
The Queensland Government provided funding and operational support to Vaxxas to facilitate the refurbishment of an existing warehouse at Northshore into a cutting-edge facility.
Vaxxas Chief Executive Officer, David Hoey said the site would significantly increase the company’s manufacturing capacity in the next few years.
“With several completed human clinical trials involving more than 500 participants, ongoing Australian Phase I clinical studies for COVID-19 and seasonal influenza, and other vaccine studies targeting pandemic influenza funded by the United States Government and a measles-rubella study funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation expected to start in 2024, Vaxxas’ vaccine patch technology platform is advancing rapidly towards commercialisation,” he said.
“We expect to manufacture and distribute the first commercially available needle-free vaccine patches from this Queensland facility within three to five years.”
Vaxxas joins a hub of innovative businesses such as Universal Field Robots, alongside precincts such as Portside, Brisbane Technology Park and the Eat Street Markets.
“I’m excited to see this new facility up and running at Northshore Hamilton, which is undergoing a spectacular transformation as Queensland’s largest urban renewal precinct.”
“Queensland is going from strength to strength as the place to work and invest in science,” said Deputy Premier Miles.
Northshore Hamilton is also the future home of the Brisbane Athlete Village for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
