The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs to establish its regional office in Stockholm.

With the opening of the new office, IVI aims to create an international hub for global health research, innovation, and collaboration in Sweden’s capital.

The Sweden office also marks the institute’s first regional outlet besides its headquarters in Korea. Based on the firm partnership with the Swedish government and the Karolinska Institute (KI), the European office will conduct cooperative projects with regional member states and various public and private partners, especially independent vaccine R&D projects.

“We are delighted to announce the establishment of IVI’s regional office in Stockholm. IVI looks forward to deepening its historic partnership with the Swedish government, KI, and other stakeholders to build another international site for global health research and innovation, advancing IVI’s vision of a world free of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases,” IVI’s Board of Trustees Chairperson George Bickerstaff said.

Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Matilda Ernkrans also said, “It is good news that IVI has shown determination to continue to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global public health and that IVI will establish an office in Europe to expand its reach, deepen its involvement on the continent, and enhance its work in Africa as part of this platform.”

Ernkrans expressed excitement that IVI selected Stockholm as the location of its regional office as Sweden has been a member and supporter of IVI for two decades through annual contributions to IVI and active role in its Board of Trustees witnessed the successful contributions of IVI’s work.

“The government of Sweden has been a pivotal supporter of IVI since its founding, providing core and project funding through the Swedish International Cooperation Agency (Sida) to accelerate vaccine research for public health and advance global goals.” IVI Director General Jerome Kim said.

From helping to develop the world’s first affordable oral cholera vaccine to bolstering Covid-19 surveillance efforts in low-resource settings, Sweden’s support has enabled IVI’s work across the vaccine and global health spectrum, and IVI is thrilled to enter this next phase of our partnership, Kim added.

Sweden was one of the first countries to sign the IVI Establishment Agreement in 1997 and started funding IVI in 2002 through Sida.

Since IVI’s first research collaboration with the University of Gothenburg and Swedish Biological Laboratories in 2000, Sweden has played an important role in developing IVI’s landmark oral cholera vaccine (OCV), Shanchol, and later, Euvichol and Euvichol Plus, vaccines developed through technology transfer from IVI and prequalified by the WHO, according to IVI.

IVI has supplied over 56 million doses of these low-cost OCVs worldwide through the global stockpile.

Sida also continues to support a range of epidemiology and vaccine programs for cholera, typhoid, and Covid-19 control, including generating evidence for disease burden in low-resource settings across Asia and Africa, accelerating the development and introduction of affordable oral cholera and typhoid conjugate vaccines, and helping to increase capacity in developing countries to implement immunization programs effectively.