GSK Opens Global Vaccine Center in Rockville, MD

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today will officially open its newest global vaccines R&D center in Rockville, MD, where the pharma giant will base 450 researchers and support staffers and spend $50 million over the next 2 years on technology and equipment.

The new center—GSK’s first dedicated vaccine R&D facility in the U.S.—will house 12 vaccine development programs, including projects supporting its candidate shingles vaccine, for which GSK applied for FDA approval in October.

R&D programs for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Group B Streptococcus (GBS), and dengue fever will also be based at the site, to be overseen by Ripley Ballou, M.D., GSK’s vp, Vaccines.

Rockville will be one of three global vaccines R&D centers for GSK; the other two are in Rixensart, Belgium, and Siena, Italy.

“Our investment here signifies our commitment to discovering and developing new vaccines across a range of pressing public health priorities, including those important here in the U.S,” Luc Debruyne, president, GSK Vaccines, said in a statement. “It places GSK at the heart of a dynamic and cutting-edge bioscience hub in Washington, D.C. We look forward to fruitful partnerships and collaborations in this community to advance the science of vaccines and help improve the health of millions of people around the world.”

Source: GenEng News (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
Tags
research, vaccines