MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2023) The United Kingdom has opened a new research facility at the Porton Down science and defense research campus in southwestern England, near the city of Salisbury, to develop vaccines against future pandemic pathogens, the UK government said on Monday.
"The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has today unveiled its world-leading Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC), which is building on its pandemic legacy and helping develop life-saving new vaccines for the UK and worldwide," the government said in a statement, adding that "the centre is situated at the UKHSA's Porton Down site, where it is co-located with other services delivered separately by partners including the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory."
The center will focus on pathogens for which vaccines either do not exist or could be improved, according to the statement.
"The creation of the centre, in over 2,800 square meters of laboratory space at Porton Down, is a major part of UKHSA's 3-year strategy and incorporates over 200 leading scientists working on around 100 wide-ranging projects, including tackling deadly pathogens with pandemic potential," the statement read.
Salisbury was the site of the 2018 poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. London qualified the case as attempted murder and poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent, adding that Moscow was involved in the incident. Russia denied any involvement and said that military grade poisons were being developed at the UK defense laboratory at Porton Down.
