The federal government is directing more than $2.3 million toward McMaster University research aimed at strengthening Canada’s ability to respond to future pandemics, including funding for a needle-free inhaled vaccine platform.
The investment, announced by Mélanie Joly, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, includes $780,000 to advance an inhaled vaccine technology that could eventually protect against viruses beyond COVID-19, such as influenza. The remaining $1.55 million will go toward the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub (CP2H), a national initiative co-directed by McMaster researcher Matthew Miller.
An Inhaled Approach to Vaccination
The inhaled vaccine platform delivers doses directly to the lungs and upper airways using a personal nebulizer, which turns a liquid vaccine into a fine mist for the recipient to breathe in. Because the device must be used deliberately by the person receiving it, the method rules out unintended exposure. Miller, a professor of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster and principal investigator on the project, said the platform has shown promise as a COVID-19 intervention and that the new funding will allow the team to adapt the underlying technology to guard against other viruses with pandemic potential.
The technology traces back to research McMaster scientists Zhou Xing and Fiona Smaill began in the early 2000s to develop protection against tuberculosis. Miller noted that a needle-free option also offers an alternative for people who experience pain, stress or anxiety related to injections. The COVID-19 version of the vaccine is currently in Phase 2 human trials, which have so far pointed to it being safe and able to generate strong mucosal immunity.
Building National Pandemic Preparedness Capacity
The larger portion of the funding, $1.55 million, will support CP2H, which Miller co-directs alongside partners in Ottawa. The hub brings together a national network of collaborators working to strengthen Canada’s domestic capacity to move new biotherapeutic discoveries from early research into commercial and clinical products. The renewed federal backing is intended to extend and broaden the hub’s existing preparedness work, while also supporting development of technologies with both health and public security applications.
Miller said building readiness for health emergencies requires coordinating expertise, infrastructure and partners across the country, and that the new funding will allow CP2H and similar hubs to continue that work going forward. He also holds roles as executive director of NexusHealth at McMaster and scientific director of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research.
In a statement, Joly said a strong life sciences sector is essential to protecting the health and security of Canadians while also supporting economic growth, jobs and innovation. She said the funding reflects an effort to invest in research, industrial capacity and new solutions that can respond to emerging threats and strengthen Canada’s long-term resilience and competitiveness.
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