COVER STORY
VIDO Leader in Human and Animal Vaccine Research
U of S lab draws on long partnership with provincial ag industry to help fuel COVID-19 vaccine development efforts
WRITTEN BY DELANEY SEIFERLING
PHOTOS BY DAVID STOBBE & GORD WALDNER
COVID-19 research in VIDO’s containment level 3 facility
“It was a spinoff from the vet college at the time, in response to a need for more practical outcomes from research that farmers and producers could use in their daily operations.”
In the last year, many Saskatchewanians learned something they previously didn’t know about our province – we are home to a world-leading research facility.
As the world mobilized to respond to COVID-19, our very own University of Saskatchewan (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) led newsworthy international efforts to develop a vaccine based on its multi-decade history of research and development in human and animal health sciences. But what many people still don’t know about the Saskatoon-based organization is just how much of its history, capacity and output are tied to our local agriculture industry. “The news has very much focused on COVID-19 and the pandemic,” says Dr. Andrew Van Kessel, VIDO’s Associate Director of Research. “That has taken attention away from the animal side of our program.” But the fact is that the organization was founded on serving Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry, and despite all the excitement of the past year, that has not and will not change, says Van Kessel (who also spent a decade as the Department Head of Animal Science at USask). The original goal of the organization, founded in 1975 with funding from the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, USask and the Devonian Group of Charitable Foundations, was to support local farmers and ranchers, says VIDO Director and CEO Dr. Volker Gerdts. “It was a spinoff from the vet college at the time, in response to a need for more practical outcomes from research that farmers and producers could use in their daily operations.” Not long after its inception, it started producing these solutions. In 1978, VIDO commercialized a vaccine to prevent E. Coli scours in cattle. In 1984, a second cattle vaccine was launched, to protect against calf scours caused by E. coli, rotavirus and coronavirus. Over the next couple of decades, the organization went on to commercialize six additional veterinary vaccine (two more vaccines are in clinical development and the COVID-19 vaccine is in clinical trials). During this time, VIDO also grew, opening a 160-acre veterinary research station in 1987 and a 50,000 square foot lab and office building in 2003. In 2011, the organization debuted its International Vaccine Centre (InterVac), a $150-million containment level 3-agriculture facility used for research and vaccine development, including work related to COVID-19. Another vaccine manufacturing facility is currently in the works, supported by last year’s federal funding to help boost domestic vaccine development capacity. Currently, there are approximately 155 employees within the organization, with representation from across the globe.
University of Saskatchewan Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization.
"We were working on a number of animal coronavirus vaccines when this pandemic hit, and that enabled us to rapidly develop our COVID-19 vaccine, which is now in human clinical trials.”
Benefits for human research
As the organization expanded physically, it also began to expand the scope of its research programs, branching out into human health sciences as well. This was a natural transition, as researchers become more aware of the benefits of using animals as models for human research, Gerdts says. It is also important as many of the new emerging diseases can infect both humans and animals (termed ‘zoonotic’). “Large animal species are much better models for humans than mice or other lab rodent species. We recognized that what we can do for animals often provides very important clues to what can be or needs to be done for humans as well.” Here, VIDO’s strong understanding of animal sciences was a major benefit for the organization, Gerdts says. Using large animals as models for humans, the organization was instrumental in researching many human vaccines over the past couple of decades, including for SARS 1 and respiratory syncytial virus. VIDO also made one of the world’s first rotavirus vaccines (for cattle), and the technology used for the cattle vaccine was fundamental in the development of a rotavirus vaccine for people. “There are huge linkages between the veterinary research and the human health research,” Gerdts says. VIDO researchers will continue to rely on this deep knowledge, as more animal-to-human transmitted diseases will inevitably emerge globally and as the global research community continues to expand its grasp of the interplay between human, animal, and environmental health (a concept often referred to as “one health”). “There will continue to be diseases that are relevant for both humans and animals,” Gerdts says. “And it's hard to distinguish them really; it's all becoming one area.”
Dr. Volker Gerdts, VIDO Director and CEO (left) and Dr. Andrew Van Kessel, VIDO’s Associate Director of Research (right)
"These relationships are a two-way street. We need to know what the industry's problems are if we are going to help solve them.”
Benefits for animal research
Right now, approximately 50-60% of VIDO’s ongoing research programs are dedicated to animal health, and there are no plans to change that. Not only is the focus on veterinary science part of the organization’s roots and mandate, the strategic balance between both research programs benefits everyone, Gerdts says. For one, having a solid understanding of both worlds has allowed the organization to conduct some animal-focused research that it wouldn’t have had the capacity or background knowledge for otherwise. This type of experimentation led one VIDO researcher to develop the groundwork for an E. coli O157 vaccine for cattle 11 years ago, designed to help prevent harmful bacteria that causes food poisoning in humans. (A similar vaccine is also currently in the works for chickens to prevent salmonella in humans.) Another major benefit of working within the animal health industry is developing advanced technologies before they are available in the human health science world, says Van Kessel. For example, the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for COVID-19 were made using engineered viruses (also called adenoviral vectors), and this is a practice that was commercialized for animals’ vaccines before it was available for humans’ vaccines. “In animals, the technology can develop and mature before we adapt it to humans,” Van Kessel says. “That's also an interesting component of this cross-fostering of platforms.” This type of knowledge is partially what allowed VIDO to respond so quickly to COVID-19. VIDO researchers were familiar with developing coronavirus vaccines, which it has been doing almost since its inception (including one for Middle East respiratory syndrome in camels, designed to help prevent the transmission to humans). “We were working on a number of animal coronavirus vaccines when this pandemic hit, and that enabled us to rapidly develop our COVID-19 vaccine, which is now in human clinical trials,” Gerdts says. VIDO was also the first Canadian research facility to isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, develop an animal model of the disease, and get a vaccine into animal testing.
VIDO is working on diseases affecting pigs, including African Swine Fever and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea and others
"These relationships are a two-way street. We need to know what the industry's problems are if we are going to help solve them.”
Ongoing ag research
Currently, there is some exciting VIDO research underway to serve the Western Canadian agriculture industry, says Dr. Van Kessel. For example, researchers are looking into solutions for bovine respiratory diseases, bovine tuberculosis, Johne's disease, pinkeye and more. There is also ongoing research targeting long-term solutions for the swine industry, specifically for porcine epidemic diarrhea, ileitis, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, swine influenza and more. VIDO has also recently received federal approval to work with the African Swine Fever virus and is actively seek vaccine and anti-viral solutions to control this disease. (See a full listing of ongoing research at https://www.vido.org/research/) Informing this work is close ties between VIDO and national agriculture organizations, Van Kessel says, including with Swine Innovation Porc, the Beef Cattle Research Council and more. “These relationships are a two-way street,” he says. “We need to know what the industry's problems are if we are going to help solve them.”
Research technicians working in one of VIDO’s containment level 3 laboratories
Conclusion
Although the media attention in the past year has been great exposure for the organization, Gerdts fears the heavy focus on COVID-19 has detracted attention away from VIDO’s roots. He also fears that the major veterinary advances the lab achieved in its early years have been lost on the new generation of farmers and ranchers in the province. For this reason, part of the organization’s focus going forward will be on outreach and communications targeting stakeholders within the agriculture industry, specifically livestock groups. “We want to tell them more about what we do and the exciting work that's going on here right now,” Gerdts says. They also want to re-iterate that agriculture will always be a main focus for them. “We're here to serve the industry.”
“We want to tell them more about what we do and the exciting work that's going on here right now.”
VIDO is working on diseases affecting cattle, including Johne’s disease, Bovine TB, pink-eye and others.