Valneva, a specialty vaccine company, announced that its subsidiary Valneva Scotland has been awarded research and development funding of up to £20 million by Scottish Enterprise.

The investment from Scotland’s national economic development agency follows advanced discussions reported on December 23, 2021, and will be comprised of two grants, which build on the agency’s longstanding engagement with Valneva and will benefit the company’s manufacturing site in Livingston. The grants are expected to be received over the next three years, commencing March 2022.

The first grant of up to £12,500,000 will support research and development related to the manufacture of VLA2001, Valneva’s inactivated, whole virus Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The second grant of up to £7,500,000 will support research and development connected to Valneva’s manufacturing processes for other vaccines.

Valneva’s research and development portfolio includes VLA1553, the company’s single-shot vaccine candidate against the mosquito-borne viral infection chikungunya, which it also intends to manufacture in Livingston. Valneva reported positive topline Phase 3 results in 2021 for both VLA2001 and VLA1553.

Thomas Lingelbach, Chief Executive Officer of Valneva, said, “This investment bolsters Valneva’s longstanding relationship with Scottish Enterprise as well as our position at the forefront of life sciences and vaccine development in Scotland. From the only inactivated, whole virus Covid-19 vaccine candidate in clinical development in Europe to the most clinically advanced vaccine candidate against chikungunya in the world, Scottish Enterprise’s investment will support progress across Valneva’s research and development portfolio – as well as jobs and growth in Scotland. We are grateful to Scottish Enterprise, and to the Scottish Government, for their continuing support.”