During his time at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics his research group studied genetic susceptibility to infections such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. From 1997[11] he has developed candidate vaccines for malaria which produce cellular (T-cell) immunity and partial efficacy using Adenovirus and Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) viral vector vaccines in a prime-boost regime.[12] From 2005 he has played a leading role in the pre-clinical and clinical assessment of new chimpanzee adenoviral vaccine vectors, particularly ChAd63, ChAd3 and ChAdOx1.
His group has developed numerous candidate vaccines against malaria which have been tested in clinical trials in the UK and Africa.[13] In 2021 his group reported high efficacy of a new R21/matrix-M candidate vaccine in Burkina Faso children and this vaccine is now in a phase III licensure trial.[14] In 2014, he led a clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine based on chimpanzee adenoviral and MVA vector technology in response to the West African Ebola virus epidemic.[12][15][16] In 2016 he co-founded Vaccitech plc, an Oxford University spin-off company developing therapeutic and preventive vaccines based on viral vector technology.[17] In 2017 he led a successful major award application to Innovate UK to co-found the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC) in Harwell, Oxfordshire, one of the first purpose-built vaccine manufacturing centres for emergency response vaccines.[18] In response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic he worked with many others at Oxford to develop and partner the ChAdOx1 vector-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, notably with AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India, supporting large scale access for low and middle income countries.[19]
