9 May 2014

A Québec team of researchers collaborating with Professor Martin Brouillette from the Université de Sherbrooke will work on developing and manufacturing innovative vaccines against respiratory viruses such as influenza.

The project, made possible through a $12.3 million grant from the ministère des Finances et de l’Économie and the company Medicago, aims to develop a method of administration and formulation that will increase the vaccines’ efficiency, especially among the elderly.

Professor Brouillette will focus on how to administer vaccines using the needleless injector he designed.

The new vaccines to be developed will take advantage of the virus-like particles (VLP) developed by Medicago. They consist in plant-based products that stimulate immune response.

The interuniversity project is co-directed by the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) and the CHUQ, in collaboration with the Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval, and McGill University.

Source: Université de Sherbrooke
Photo credit: Michel Caron