vaccine formulation institute

What vaccine formulation institute does

Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI) is a Swiss not-for-profit company incorporated in 2010 (externalized from the University of Lausanne, where it originated as the WHO-supported Vaccine Formulation Laboratory). VFI develops a portfolio of clinically-relevant vaccine adjuvants—SWE (squalene-in-water emulsion), SQ (saponin-based), LQ (liposome-based), and LMQ (liposome-based saponin-containing)—alongside formulation optimization, immunogenicity testing, analytical characterization, and technology transfer services. Its flagship product Sepivac SWE is manufactured at GMP grade through a partnership with Seppic (Air Liquide Group), with production capacity for several hundred million doses per year. The platform has been clinically validated by the COVAC-2 COVID-19 vaccine, which completed first-in-human trials published in October 2025.

VFI operates under an open-access model: adjuvants are provided to vaccine developers on equitable terms, often free of charge for global health applications. The organization serves three primary constituencies: academic research institutions working on infectious disease vaccines (University of Oxford, University of Queensland, University of Washington, Chulalongkorn University, Leiden University, Université Paris-Saclay, University of Geneva), pharmaceutical and biotech vaccine developers (VIDO, PT Biofarma, IVAC), and global health funders and donors (Gates Foundation, CEPI, European Commission, NIH, Coefficient Giving). Technology is transferred to manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to build regional production capacity.

VFI's revenue model is grant-funded rather than commercial. Disclosed funding includes a USD 5M CEPI grant (2021), USD 1.99M Gates Foundation grant (2026), and participation in multiple EU-funded projects (ISIDORe, TBVAC-HORIZON, UltiMalVax, OptiViVax, BAXERNA, TRANSVAC, ENOVA). VFI coordinates TRANSVAC and ENOVA vaccine infrastructure networks and leads the Adjuvants/Formulations platform of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Discovery Collaboratory. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; the institute does not charge for many adjuvant provisions and offers TRANSVAC services free of charge, making direct revenue from product sales effectively zero with operating revenue driven by institutional grants and consortium participation.

Name

vaccine formulation institute

Legal name

Vaccine Formulation Institute (CH) Ltd.

Website

https://vaccineformulationinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI) is a Swiss not-for-profit that develops open-access vaccine adjuvants and formulation expertise, serving academic vaccine researchers, biotech developers, and global health funders in low- and middle-income markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Plan-les-ouates

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: VFI is primarily funded through grants from renowned organizations including the Gates Foundation, European Commission, National Institutes of Health, and Coefficient Giving. Funding supports adjuvant development and provision of open-access adjuvants to the vaccine community.
2. Open-Access Adjuvant Provision: Adjuvants are provided under equitable and open-access terms to vaccine developers and manufacturers worldwide. VFI does not charge for adjuvant provision in many cases, particularly for global health applications.
3. Technology Transfer Services: VFI provides technology transfer services for manufacturing and quality control of adjuvants, including installation and training support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI) develops and provides open-access vaccine adjuvants and formulation expertise for the global vaccine community. The institute offers a portfolio of clinically-validated adjuvants (SWE, SQ, LQ, LMQ) available at GMP grade, along with formulation optimization, immunogenicity testing, characterization services, and manufacturing technology transfer to vaccine developers worldwide.

Product overview

VFI is a not-for-profit company developing a portfolio of clinically-relevant adjuvants and providing formulation expertise for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines. The core product line includes SWE (squalene-in-water emulsion), SQ (saponin-based), LQ (liposome-based), and LMQ (liposome-based saponin-containing) adjuvants, all available at GMP grade. Sepivac SWE™ is the commercial variant produced by partner Seppic. VFI supports vaccine development through adjuvant provision, formulation optimization, characterization services, manufacturing technology transfer, and training programs. The adjuvants are provided under open-access terms for Global Health applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sepivac SWE: Squalene-in-water emulsion adjuvant co-developed with Seppic, now available at GMP grade under open-access terms for human prophylactic vaccines including COVID-19.

Products and services

• SWE Adjuvant Squalene-in-water emulsion adjuvant developed by VFI for adjuvantation of vaccines of Global Health impact. Demonstrated safe and effective in enabling adjuvanticity and dose-sparing for vaccine candidates against Inactivated Polio Virus, Influenza, RSV, Rabies, and Group A streptococcus.
• Sepivac SWE Commercial name for SWE adjuvant produced at GMP grade by Seppic under partnership with VFI. Available under open-access terms to the entire vaccine community.
• SQ Adjuvant

Quantifiable outcome

• Sepivac SWE-adjuvanted COVAC-2 vaccine demonstrated safety and robust neutralizing antibody responses across age groups in first-in-human clinical study
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and major.

• Desert King InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 April 2025Strategic alliance combining VFI's open access philosophy and formulation expertise with Desert King's sustainable Quillaja saponin production. Offers vaccine developers license-free access to cost-effective liposomal and emulsion-based adjuvants incorporating saponins.
• VIDO (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization) - University of SaskatchewancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 April 2023Collaborative research agreement for joint vaccine development. VIDO developed COVAC-2 vaccine formulated with Sepivac SWE. Partnership supported by $5M CEPI award for COVID-19 variants vaccine development. First-in-human clinical trial results published 2025.
• Seppic (Air Liquide Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2020VFI partnered with Seppic for manufacturing and global distribution of Sepivac SWE adjuvant. Seppic produces GMP-grade adjuvant available under open-access terms to entire vaccine community. Partnership enables large-scale manufacturing capacity of several hundred million doses per year.
• RRPV (Rapid Response Partnership Vehicle)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVFI joined RRPV consortium supporting BARDA in accelerating medical countermeasures for health threats. Contributes to outbreak and pandemic preparedness for rapid vaccine deployment worldwide.
• GF Global Health Discovery CollaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVFI leads the Adjuvants/Formulations platform of the GF Global Health Discovery Collaboratory, providing adjuvants and formulation expertise to Gates Foundation-funded vaccine developers.
• PT Biofarma (Indonesia)strategicImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTechnology transfer recipient for SWE adjuvant manufacturing and quality control processes. Enables regional adjuvant production capacity in Southeast Asia.
• IVAC (Vietnam)strategicImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTechnology transfer recipient for SWE adjuvant manufacturing and quality control. Supports local vaccine production capability development.
• ENOVA (European Network of Vaccine Adjuvants)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVFI coordinates ENOVA activities with 30+ European partners. Network funded by EC-COST Action CA16231 to discuss, share, and synergize knowledge on adjuvants and vaccine formulation.
• TRANSVACcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVFI coordinates TRANSVAC vaccine infrastructure activities. Provides training and free adjuvant/formulation services to vaccine developers through EU-funded project for sustainable vaccine infrastructure in Europe.
• TBVAC-HORIZONmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU/Switzerland funded TB vaccine development project. VFI provides portfolio of new adjuvants including Th-17 inducing adjuvants and formulation expertise to advance TB vaccine pipeline.
• UltiMalVaxmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU/Switzerland funded next-generation malaria vaccine project led by University of Oxford. VFI provides adjuvant and formulation expertise for clinical evaluation of adjuvanted malaria vaccines.
• OptiViVaxmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU/Switzerland funded project optimizing Plasmodium vivax malaria vaccine led by University of Oxford. VFI optimizes vaccine formulations and investigates sustainable adjuvant alternatives.
• BAXERNAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU/Switzerland funded project for next-generation mRNA bacterial vaccines against tuberculosis, Buruli ulcer, and Acinetobacter. VFI develops analytical methods for lipid-based mRNA formulations.
• ISIDORemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded 21M EUR project for infectious disease outbreak research. VFI provides TransNational Access Services on adjuvants and formulation expertise to fight epidemic diseases including SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Seppic (Air Liquide Healthcare): Seppic is VFI's primary manufacturing partner for Sepivac SWE and an adjuvant formulator/marketer in its own right (e.g., Montanide series). It is the most direct commercial counterpart in vaccine adjuvants and shares VFI's customer base of vaccine developers globally.
• Dynavax Technologies: Dynavax develops and commercializes the CpG 1018 adjuvant used in HEPLISAV-B and licensed to multiple vaccine developers, including for COVID-19 and influenza. Comparable as a pure-play clinical-stage/commercial adjuvant company with proprietary IP rather than open access.
• Novavax: Novavax commercializes the Matrix-M saponin-based adjuvant used in its Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine and licensed to partners such as Serum Institute of India. Highly comparable adjuvant-platform play serving global vaccine developers.
• Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI, formerly IDRI): AAHI is a non-profit adjuvant developer advancing saponin-based (QS-21), TLR agonist, and emulsion adjuvants for global health vaccines. Highly comparable mission, structure, and customer overlap with VFI as a peer non-profit adjuvant specialist.

Broad incumbents

• GSK (Vaccines): GSK operates the proprietary AS01 and AS03 adjuvant systems used in Shingrix, Arexvy, and prior pandemic vaccines. Comparable as a large incumbent with deep adjuvant science and clinical pipeline, but is integrated into a full vaccine franchise rather than offering open access.
• Merck & Co. (Vaccines): Merck has historically operated proprietary adjuvant platforms including ISCOMATRIX and supplies aluminum-based adjuvants across its vaccine franchise (Gardasil, Vaxneuvance). Comparable as a broad incumbent with both adjuvant IP and integrated vaccine commercialization.
• Sanofi Pasteur: Sanofi Pasteur manufactures adjuvanted vaccines across its portfolio and has historically offered contract adjuvant manufacturing to external developers. Comparable as a large incumbent with adjuvant capabilities and global vaccine distribution.
• CSL Seqirus: Seqirus uses MF59 (squalene-in-water emulsion) adjuvant across its influenza vaccines and is among the closest commercial analogues to VFI's SWE platform. Comparable as an incumbent with a squalene-emulsion adjuvant franchise.

Others

• SPI Pharma: SPI Pharma supplies aluminum-based and other vaccine adjuvants and excipients to vaccine manufacturers globally. Comparable as an enabling supplier in the adjuvant value chain rather than a direct competitor.

Emerging players

• CureVac: CureVac is an mRNA vaccine developer participating alongside VFI in the BAXERNA consortium for lipid-based mRNA vaccine formulations. Comparable in adjacent mRNA vaccine science that increasingly intersects with adjuvant/formulation platforms.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vformulation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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