INTERNATIONAL VACCINE INSTITUTE

Their core work

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is an international organization headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, dedicated to developing and delivering vaccines against diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries. IVI conducts the full vaccine development cycle — from candidate identification and preclinical work through Phase I/II/III clinical trials — with a strong focus on neglected tropical diseases and epidemic-prone pathogens. In H2020, they contributed clinical expertise to Zika virus preparedness in Latin America and are leading a Phase I human clinical trial of SchistoShield®, a vaccine candidate targeting the parasitic disease schistosomiasis in Africa. Their value to consortia lies in combining regulatory-grade clinical trial management with deep connections to disease-endemic regions and global health institutions.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IVI entered H2020 in 2016 responding to the acute Zika emergency — their initial focus was epidemic preparedness, neurological complications (microcephaly, Guillain-Barré syndrome), and building a Latin American research response network. By 2019, the focus shifted entirely to a planned, multi-year clinical vaccine program against schistosomiasis in Africa — a much more structured, long-term drug development effort rather than emergency response. The trajectory shows a clear move from reactive outbreak science toward proactive vaccine clinical development for chronic neglected diseases, which likely reflects IVI's core institutional mandate more accurately than the Zika work did.

IVI is moving toward long-cycle vaccine clinical development for neglected tropical diseases in Africa, making them a strong match for consortia focused on NTD elimination, clinical trial infrastructure in low-income settings, or access-to-vaccines programs.

How they like to work

IVI consistently joins projects as a participant, never as coordinator — they contribute specialized clinical and disease expertise rather than managing project administration. With 36 unique partners across 14 countries over just 2 projects, they clearly operate inside large, multinational consortia built around global health challenges. This suggests they are selective but internationally well-connected partners, most valuable when a consortium needs credible clinical trial capacity or access to disease-endemic country networks.

IVI has built a network of 36 unique consortium partners spanning 14 countries through only 2 projects, reflecting the broad, multinational nature of global health research consortia. Their partnerships span Europe, Latin America, and Africa, consistent with their mandate as an international organization based in South Korea.

What sets them apart

IVI is one of very few non-European, non-university research organizations in H2020 — an intergovernmental body headquartered in Seoul with a legal mandate to develop vaccines for the world's poorest populations, which gives them access to networks and disease-endemic sites that European academic groups cannot replicate. Their combination of clinical trial capability, WHO-adjacent credibility, and established presence in Africa and Latin America is rare in the EU research ecosystem. For any consortium targeting vaccines, NTDs, or global health equity, IVI brings both scientific depth and geopolitical reach that strengthens funding applications.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VASA
  A Phase I clinical trial of SchistoShield® — a concrete, late-stage vaccine development effort against schistosomiasis, one of the world's most widespread parasitic diseases, with EUR 1.45M in EC funding and a seven-year timeline to 2026.
• ZikaPLAN
  Launched in direct response to the 2016 WHO-declared public health emergency, this project positioned IVI within a Latin American preparedness network at a moment of acute global health crisis.