By CHEN Chunyou

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a joint program on April 28 to support the R&D of innovative vaccine technologies. The aim is to increase access to and coverage of lifesaving vaccines across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that continue to be hit disproportionately by infectious and contagious diseases.

The program is part of the collaboration between the NSFC and the Gates Foundation in global health and development since 2021, which encourages more international collaboration on research and innovative solutions for global health and development issues. This year's program calls for proposals in two areas: innovation of RNA vaccines and vaccine controlled-release delivery technologies, both of which will improve the accessibility of vaccines in LMICs.

The development of RNA vaccine technologies came into focus for the fast speed at which RNA vaccines can be developed and proven safe and effective. Researchers around the world are exploring the potential of RNA vaccines to combat deadly diseases including AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

RNA vaccines, compared with traditional vaccines, are easier and faster to develop and manufacture. They can help expand access to high-quality and effective vaccines across LMICs, addressing a crucial equity gap in global health. The organizers said the proposals should focus on improving the durability and efficacy of vaccine responses with optimized RNA-based technical platforms for better applications in LMICs.

Innovation in vaccine delivery technologies will help improve vaccine accessibility and coverage. Unlike some vaccines that have to be injected into the blood, innovative ways of vaccination include using micro-needle patches that administer the vaccine into the skin. It removes the need for complicated cold-chain transportation of vaccines and trained medical personnel to administer them. Such innovatively administrable vaccines can be used to protect the groups that are the hardest to reach via conventional vaccination methods.

Vaccine controlled-release technologies can further boost vaccine delivery, such as reducing multiple-dose immunization to a single dose by releasing antigens in a programmable manner, optimizing antigenic immunity by slowly and continuously releasing antigenic components, or encapsulating various antigenic components of a vaccine dose in their respective micro environments to form a combination vaccine that can protect against a range of pathogens.

"Global health needs our joint action," NSFC vice president Lan Yujie said. "I look forward to more fruitful outcomes from Chinese researchers together with their foreign counterparts, both of whom will benefit from more collaboration."

"Continued innovation plays a critical role in accelerating access to better, newer lifesaving vaccines," said Dr. Zheng Zhijie, director of the Gates Foundation's China office. "The foundation is committed to working with Chinese partners and supporting more such efforts as this joint program with the NSFC that will help reduce the infectious disease burden borne by LMICs."

The joint program will fund up to six proposals on vaccine innovation. Each selected proposal will be given up to 1.5 million RMB by the NSFC and 200,000 USD by the Gates Foundation. Women are highly encouraged to apply.