Our History - 30 Years of OVG
"Celebrating 30 Years of The Oxford Vaccine Group" reflects on the group's history and achievements over the past three decades of vaccine research, and looks at the capabilities built to face the challenges of the next three.
From a small team working out of an office at the John Radcliffe Hospital in 1994, to a world renowned organisation with researchers working around the globe today, this page charts the history of the Oxford Vaccine Group over the last 30 years.
Establishing OVG
The Oxford Vaccine Group was established in 1994 at Oxford University by Professor Richard Moxon who was Head of the Department of Paediatrics at the time. Prior to the formal approval of its name, studies on Hib vaccine had been conducted by Professor Moxon’s team which had provided important data for the introduction of the vaccine to the UK immunisation schedule in 1992. As a result, the case was made to the University on the importance of vaccines in public health and the anticipated developments in technology that would advance vaccine development and evaluation.
The original terms of reference for the group in 1994 were to:
- Provide a scientific resource for research into the development and implementation of vaccines.
- Undertake basic and applied research on diseases for which there is no vaccine: meningococcal sepsis, AIDS, malaria
- Be a clinical referral service for adverse events and immunisation in special circumstances
- Conduct phase II safety and immunogenicity trials and develop a resource for phase I trials
- Develop laboratory expertise in microbiology and immunology
- Provide a platform for education and advocacy
- Establish a new building at the Churchill Hospital site
OVG was originally run from an office on level 4 of the John Radcliffe Hospital, and employed a small team of research fellows and nurses who conducted epidemiological studies and ran clinical trials in children focusing on Hib and meningococcal vaccines.
By 2010 OVG had grown from less than 10 researchers in 2000 to 60 research staff (including medical doctors, scientists, nurses and trials administration) based in CCVTM. OVG has continued to expand and grow and at the time of writing in 2024, the group comprises over 200 staff and students.
Research Interests and Response Capabilities
From 2001 to 2020, OVG had a major core interest on childhood vaccines against encapsulated bacteria with a particular focus on meningococcus, pneumococcus and typhoid with major contributions to national and international policy and understanding of the nature of immunity induced by these vaccines. Its expertise in clinical trials has led to many additional studies on vaccines for other pathogens including influenza, RSV, Ebola, rabies and others. Several new vaccines were developed during this period in the OVG laboratory and tested in phase I human trials including two group B meningococcal vaccines (outer membrane vesicles and viral vectors) and a vaccine against plague, and in collaboration with partners, new vaccines against RSV and Ebola. OVG also pioneered the use of human challenge models to support vaccine development for typhoid and paratyphoid, work which has now expanded since 2022 to include pneumococcus, RSV, and plans for influenza and malaria. The typhoid vaccine was rolled out following WHO guidance in 2018 and since 2022 some 60 million doses have been deployed.
OVG has hosted the National Immunisation Schedules Evaluation Consortium for the past decade which is funded by the Department of Health to conduct research to support UK policy. Its capabilities have also been important in the response to outbreaks with research on H5N1 vaccines with Sanofi Pasteur in 2006, a major response to H1N1 pandemic in 2009 funded by the UK Government to evaluate vaccines for children, and research on novel Ebola vaccines funded by EC in 2015/16 in response to the West Africa outbreak, contributing to the licensure of the Johnson and Johnson Ebola vaccine.
In 2020, OVG took on leadership of the clinical development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine and led a team, with collaborators, of some 2000 researchers across UK, South Africa and Brazil which provided the pivotal data for the global licensure of the vaccine (initially registered in 180 countries) with over 3 billion doses deployed. The vaccine is said by AirFinity to have saved 6.3 million lives in 2021 alone. Since the pandemic, OVG has developed an expanded portfolio with new investigators joining the team. The current programme includes research on vaccines for bacterial diseases and viral outbreak pathogens, vaccines for childhood diseases, human challenge studies (respiratory, enteric and malaria), and underpinned by cutting edge immunology.
Social sciences research, ethics and philosophy have all featured in OVGs portfolio since 2001, and has now been formalised under the leadership of Professor Vanderslott who coordinates the Vaccines and Society unit launched in 2023.
In 2005, OVG began collaborations with clinicians in Nepal and an extensive programme has continued there over the past 18 years covering studies on Hib, pneumococcus and typhoid. International collaborations prior to the pandemic included Bangladesh (typhoid) and pandemic partners were in Kenya, South Africa and Brazil.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard on 30 years of OVG
Celebrating 30 years since the foundation of the Oxford Vaccine Group (OVG) is a very special moment. Every person who has been part of this journey in OVG, and all those who have facilitated our research at Oxford, can be truly proud of what we have achieved, what we are and the way in which we have conducted ourselves in science and in service to public health and one another. In those three decades OVG has made major contributions to understanding immunity, to vaccine innovation, championing human challenge models, the development, testing and deployment of vaccines, as well as clinical service and immunisation education, all aimed at achieving our mission “to improve human health through immunisation”. We did just that.
In this short brochure, compiled especially to commemorate this milestone, we reflect on some of those achievements – from discovery and translation to policy impact in the fight against meningitis, pneumonia, typhoid, outbreaks of influenza, Ebola, and many other bacteria/viruses and even a pandemic. We have been in a constant battle against the microbial world which continues to challenge us, but through it all, OVG has been part of the astonishing story of vaccines and vaccination that has demonstrably saved lives and improved the health of populations around the world. This is remarkable.
Of course, OVG is not just about science and impact. OVG is very much about a team of talented people from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds who work together with a shared mission and are connected through the years. The OVG environment in which we work is unique, with an extraordinary research infrastructure that enables what we do and has been expertly built over the decades. And central to that is our focus on working as a collective of researchers with our knowledge and wisdom, as well as with integrity and kindness, where everyone has a part to play, all are valued, and indeed every person is critical to our success. There is a strong sense of a shared responsibility because what we do is so important. In a recent review, OVG was commended for its positive culture and ethos, and reputation for creating a collaborative work environment. This is is an extraordinary reflection on who and what OVG aspires to be.
Since the outset of our global expansion about 20 years ago, we have had the honour to work with terrific colleagues across South Asia, Africa and Latin America, to address important questions of relevance to those regions but also of global importance. Those collaborators and our experiences with them have enriched OVG and directed our work to the scientific questions that matter most.
Today, our alumni, those who have studied or trained with us over those 30 years, are spread across the globe with roles in science, medicine, and industry making their own contributions to patients, research and policy, and the future of our health. The reach of OVG is far beyond Headington. Past staff and students remain an important part of our group and it is fitting that many of them join us for the 30th anniversary symposium and celebration in reunion.
Whilst it is the right moment to look back and reflect on the past and to ponder admiringly on our many successes and what has made OVG, we cannot linger too long here as there is much still to do. The next 30 years will bring new challenges but I am confident that OVG has the vision, wisdom and dedication, underpinned by excellence in science, to continue to change the world.