By Chris Brown

$20M over four year

Province invests in virology research at the University of Alberta

Dec 11, 2020 | 1:14 PM

The provincial government is investing $20 million at the University of Alberta’s Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute (AVI) for research into COVID-19 and related diseases.

The funding will accelerate leading-edge research and commercialization of pharmaceutical and vaccine treatments and build on Alberta’s successes, says the government in a release.

The funding is over four years.

“We’re unleashing our world-class research universities to boost our expertise to not only find cures, but commercialize and manufacture them here at home,” says Doug Schweitzer, minister of jobs, economy and innovation.

Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, distinguished professor, and founding director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology calls the funding outstanding and says it “will improve healthcare, strengthen the biotechnology industry, help diversify our economy, and create valuable jobs for Albertans.”

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Dr. Michael Houghton, a researcher at the Li Ka Shing Institute recently won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The AVI is a commercialization centre within the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology at the University of Alberta and supports the development of new vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. Some therapies currently under development at the institute include a hepatitis C vaccine, human cytomegalovirus antivirals, and therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. Recently, the AVI secured more than $5.8 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to develop anti-viral drugs, vaccines and diagnostics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.