GLAXOSMITHKLINE VACCINES SRL

Their core work

GSK Vaccines SRL (formerly Novartis Vaccines, Siena site) is a major pharmaceutical vaccine R&D and manufacturing facility specializing in glycoconjugate vaccine design and development. Their H2020 activity centers on training the next generation of vaccine scientists through industrial doctoral programs, particularly in carbohydrate-based vaccine chemistry, structural vaccinology, and anti-infective strategies. They bring deep industrial expertise in vaccine formulation, antigen design, and mass spectrometry-based structural analysis to academic-industry training networks. Their Siena site is one of Europe's key vaccine research hubs with decades of experience in bacterial vaccine development.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early H2020 activity (2015-2017) focused on foundational vaccine science: structural vaccinology, carbohydrate immunomodulators, and vaccine processing, with projects like SVNanoVax, IMMUNOSHAPE, and DiViNe. From 2016 onward, the organization shifted heavily toward industrial doctoral training programs (VADEMA, DISSection, PHA-ST-TRAIN-VAC), positioning itself as an industry host for academic-industry training networks. The most recent project (PAVax, 2020) signals a sharpened focus on synthetic carbohydrate vaccines targeting antibiotic-resistant bacteria, combining their glycoconjugate expertise with the AMR crisis.

Moving from broad vaccine R&D toward targeted synthetic carbohydrate vaccines addressing antimicrobial resistance, increasingly through structured industry-academia training partnerships.

How they like to work

GSK Vaccines operates as both a consortium leader and active participant, coordinating 4 of their 9 projects — predominantly MSCA industrial training networks where they serve as the industry host. With 31 unique partners across 11 countries, they maintain a broad European network but consistently anchor collaborations around doctoral training, acting as the industrial training site that complements academic partners. Their preference for MSCA-ITN formats (European and Industrial Doctorates) indicates they value long-term structured partnerships over short project engagements.

Active network of 31 partners across 11 countries, built primarily through multi-partner MSCA training networks. Their collaborations span Western European academic institutions and research centers, reflecting the typical geography of vaccine research excellence in Europe.

What sets them apart

GSK Vaccines Siena is one of the few large pharma sites that actively coordinates EU-funded doctoral training programs, not just participates. This makes them a rare bridge between industrial vaccine manufacturing know-how and academic research training. For consortium builders, they offer something most pharma companies do not: willingness to lead MSCA training networks, host doctoral students in an industrial setting, and co-design curricula around real vaccine development challenges like glycoconjugate chemistry and structural analysis.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DiViNe
  Largest single funding (EUR 813,999) focused on nanobiotechnology for sustainable vaccine downstream processing — their most technically distinct project
• PAVax
  Most recent project (2020-2024) targeting synthetic carbohydrate vaccines against antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa — signals their current strategic direction
• VADEMA
  Coordinated an entire doctoral industrial school dedicated to vaccine design through structural mass spectrometry — demonstrates their commitment to workforce development