The Human Vaccines Project, a nonprofit public-private partnership focused on decoding the immune system to improve human health, and Seqirus, a global leader in the prevention of influenza, announced today that Seqirus is joining the Project’s Universal Influenza Vaccine Initiative (UIVI). Seqirus, owned by CSL Limited, has been on the front line of influenza vaccine development and pandemic preparedness for more than a century, pioneering new technologies for rapidly producing influenza vaccines.

“With a heritage dating back to the influenza pandemic of 1918, Seqirus is pleased to bring its expertise to the Project, working alongside the eminent research organizations already involved,” said Russell Basser, MD, senior vice president of research and development at Seqirus. “Influenza remains one of our greatest global health threats and we are committed to collaborating with like-minded partners to advance understanding of the human response to influenza, and to discover new and innovative vaccine solutions.”

Launched in late 2017, the UIVI is a collaboration of leading global organizations and partners working together to rapidly accelerate the development of a universal influenza vaccine that provides long-lasting protection against seasonal and pandemic influenza across demographics and geography. The Initiative fills a critical gap in influenza vaccine research today by focusing on how the immune system responds to and develops immunological protection against multiple strains of influenza. Research will be conducted using cutting-edge biomedical and machine learning technologies to develop models of the immune system. The models will be artificial intelligence-based, so they will get smarter over time, rapidly accelerating vaccine research.

“While there have been recent advances in the development of better influenza vaccines, we need to continue to work towards more transformational solutions that provide higher levels of protection against multiple strains of influenza for longer periods of time,” said Wayne Koff, PhD, president and CEO of the Human Vaccines Project. “That’s why we are pleased to collaborate with Seqirus, a leading innovator in influenza vaccines, as we expand our partnership with global stakeholders to accelerate the development of a more broadly protective influenza vaccine.”