Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
What the facility does

Vaccine development and testing, containment level 2 and 3 infectious disease research, large animal models of disease, preclinical trials, regulatory trials.

Areas of expertise

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) is one of Canada’s premier research institutes, with almost 50 years of experience in infectious disease research and vaccine development for animals and humans. VIDO has more than 200 personnel and some of the world’s most advanced containment infrastructure, including containment level 2 and level 3 (CL3-Ag) animal housing and laboratories, a vaccine development centre, a select agent lab, an aerobiology challenge unit, and a 160-acre containment level 2 research station. VIDO can complete multiple stages of vaccine development including pre-clinical trials for human vaccines, full regulatory and efficacy trials for animal vaccines and vaccine development and manufacturing. 

Research services
  • Pathogenomics
  • Proteomics
  • Metabolomics
  • Kinomics
  • Antigen identification
  • Vaccine development
  • Vaccine formulation and delivery
  • Animal disease models (containment 2 and 3)
  • Preclinical vaccine testing (human)
  • Regulatory vaccine testing (animals)
Sectors of application
  • Agriculture, animal science and food
  • Defence and security industries
  • Fisheries and aquaculture
  • Healthcare and social services
  • Manufacturing and processing
Specialized lab  Equipment Function
 Containment Level 2 (CL2)25 CL2 research laboratories. Containment Level 2 Agriculture (CL2-Ag) animal housing and support spaces.
 

Containment Level 3 (CL3)

 

18 CL3 animal isolation rooms that can house all animal species. 7 CL3 laboratories including select agent and aerobiology labs. CL3 clinical pathology lab including tissue processing, and automated histology and hematology suites. CL3 necropsy and surgical suites. CL3-Ag animal housing and support spaces.
Research station160-acre Research StationResearch station certified to CL2-Ag able to conduct large animal studies including efficacy trials.
CL3 aerobiology laboratoryMadison Chamber, fully suitedFully suited laboratory for aerobiology challenge experiments including Canada’s only Madison chamber for aerobiology challenge experiments.
Select agent laboratoryClass 3 GloveboxProvides infrastructure required to work with select agents as classified by the Federal Select Agent Program in the United States.
Vaccine Development CentreVaccine Development CentreSupports human and animal vaccine development from discovery to commercialization. CL3 capable for Risk Group 3 pathogens. Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliant. Up to 1,000 L bioreactors and 500m2 fixed-bed bioreactor. Capacity to produce all major vaccine platforms, GMP virus and phage, and other biologics.

•    Advagene Biopharma Co.
•    Alberta Conservation Association 
•    AnGes, Inc. 
•    Attenubiotics Inc.
•    Beef Cattle Research Council 
•    Boston Children’s Hospital (U.S.)
•    Camargo
•    Canadian Poultry Research Council 
•    Canadian Swine Research and Development Cluster 
•    Cluster CellGuard Science Co. 
•    Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan 
•    Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
•    Cytophage Technologies Inc.
•    Dechra Limited 
•    Defence Therapeutics
•    Egg Farmers of Canada 
•    Elanco 
•    Emergent BioSolutions Canada Inc.
•    Entos Pharmaceutical 
•    Alberta Innovates 
•    Alberta Agriculture and Forestry     
•    Result Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) (Alberta)
•    Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 
•    Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
•    Department of National Defence 
•    International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
•    Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
•    Parks Canada 
•    Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
•    Ministry of Agriculture (Saskatchewan)
•    Ministry of Environment (Saskatchewan)
•    National Institutes of Health (NIH) (U.S.)
•    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
•    U.S. Department of Defense 
•    Guangzhou Yuanbo Medical Tech Co. 
•    Huvepharma 
•    Immune Biosolutions
•    Institut Jules Bordet 
•    Institute for AIM Medicine
•    Intervet 
•    Janssen 
•    Jarislowsky Chair in Biotechnology Management 
•    Kamloops Stockmen’s Association 
•    KreaMedica 
•    Living Skies
•    Mayo Clinic
•    Merck Animal Health
•    Mitacs
•    Molecular Partners 
•    NorthTaste Flavourings Ltd.
•    Precision NanoSystems
•    ProMIS Neurociences Inc.
•    Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre
•    Royal University Hospital Foundation 
•    Shandong Binzhou Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine Academy (China)
•    State University of New York (U.S.)
•    The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) 
•    University of Alberta 
•    University of British Columbia 
•    University of Calgary 
•    University of Manitoba
•    University of Melbourne (Australia)
•    University of Montana (U.S.)
•    University of Ottawa 
•    University of Sydney (Australia)
•    University of Victoria 
•    Variation Biotechnologies 
•    Virogin Biotech 
•    Vital Mark Inc.
•    Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) 
•    Washington State University (U.S.)
•    Yantai YEDA International Incubator for Biomedical Innovation Ltd.