Eyam Health and iiDiagnostics (iiDX), a company formed by the Infection Innovation Consortium: iiCON, have launched a collaboration to bring forward Eyam Health’s novel vaccine technology using advanced automated organoid models.
This £750,000 international initiative will combine Eyam’s advanced vaccine design and delivery platforms with world-leading automated organoid technology from iiCON’s lead partner, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), to accelerate the R&D and testing of vaccines against infectious diseases.
Eyam is receiving advisory services and up to $455,000 CAD in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to support its participation in the project, which is included as part of the total funding amount, with the remainder of the funding provided by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and iiDiagnostics.
The project will be the first commercial project to be carried out in the state-of-the-art Liverpool Robotic Infection Research Laboratory being delivered by iiCON and LSTM. One of the first Category Three Level robotic laboratories in the UK, this world-leading facility is equipped with liquid handling, robotic systems and analytical equipment—providing industry and academic collaborators with the containment and research capabilities to safely tackle high-risk global infectious diseases.
This international partnership will position the collaborators at the forefront of innovation in automated, human‑relevant infection research. The project brings together Eyam’s proprietary Gemini and Jennerator platforms with LSTM’s advanced organoid automation through iiDX to accelerate development of multivalent vaccines for pandemic and emerging infectious threats.
A New Model for AI-Driven, Human-Relevant Vaccine Testing
At the core of this collaboration is the co-development of a physiologically relevant, automated tonsillar organoid model—the first of its kind—designed to enable rapid, high-fidelity testing of Eyam’s saDNA-based vaccine candidates. The model will be developed by researchers at LSTM and iiDX under the leadership of Professor Giancarlo Biagini and Dr. Shaun Pennington.
The initial program will assess Eyam’s universal SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, designed using the company’s proprietary Jennerator AI engine and delivered via its carrier-free Gemini saDNA platform. A second stream will validate the Gemini platform’s capacity to deliver multi-antigen payloads from a single dose, opening the door to vaccines with broader protection profiles across respiratory viruses and other global threats.
Strategic Implications for UK and Canadian Innovation
This cross-border collaboration aims not only to generate translational data for Eyam’s platform, but also to prototype new industry access models for the Liverpool Robotic Infection Research Laboratory. Learnings from Eyam’s engagement will be used to inform iiCON’s long-term commercialization strategy around automated human organoid systems for pharma and biotech partners.
“This collaboration allows us to test and validate both our Gemini and Jennerator platforms in a human-relevant model under fully automated, high-containment conditions,” said Ryan Thomas, CEO of Eyam Health. “Together with iiDiagnostics and LSTM, we are designing a new blueprint for speed, scalability, and precision in vaccine development—one that doesn't rely on cold-chain, in vivo testing, or outdated delivery systems.”
Professor Janet Hemingway, iiCON Founding Director, said: “This partnership represents a critical step in demonstrating how the Liverpool Robotic Infection Research Laboratory can support innovation-led companies like Eyam. The project will not only advance next-generation vaccine candidates, but will support the development of a commercially viable service offerings for the broader biotech sector—bolstering leading-edge infection innovation and making a key contribution to UK and Canadian pandemic preparedness.”
Global Health Impact
With the ability to accelerate candidate screening while producing more predictive data than in vivo models, this collaboration represents a new frontier in vaccine development and pandemic preparedness. It also strengthens bilateral cooperation between UK and Canadian institutions, advancing both nations’ shared goals in biosecurity and global health resilience