Australian company Vaxxas has announced the opening of its global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Brisbane.
The company is developing a needle-free vaccine patch platform.
The new facility is a first-of-its-kind manufacturing site designed to support the scale-up of the company's needle-free vaccine technology platform. It is expected to support up to 200 jobs and produce millions of vaccine patches annually once fully operational.
The Queensland Government provided funding and operational support to Vaxxas in developing the site. Additional funding has been provided by the Commonwealth through its Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
Queensland deputy premier Dr Steven Miles will officiate the opening.
"Queensland is fast shaping up as a global research and innovation hub thanks to the Palaszczuk Government's investment in state-of-the-art facilities like this one. 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," he said.
"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.
"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.
"Queensland is going from strength to strength as the place to work and invest in science, and Vaxxas is a fantastic example of a home-grown biotech success story that we need to retain here in Queensland. The opening of the Vaxxas Biomedical Facility in Brisbane's Northshore is taking us one step closer to achieving that goal."
Vaxxas CEO David Hoey said the facility's opening marked a significant milestone for the company, which was founded in 2011 based on research from The University of Queensland.
"The Vaxxas Biomedical Facility will firmly position Australia at the forefront of vaccine technology innovation, thanks to the support of the Queensland State and Australian Federal Governments. The site will significantly increase our manufacturing capacity, creating new local and skilled jobs while enabling Vaxxas to progress through late-stage clinical trials that will bring our first commercial vaccine products to the market," said Mr Hoey.
"With several completed and successful 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 toward commercialisation."
