16 July 2010
It took 2000 scientists to perfect the Gardasil vaccine, investment of over $US 1 billion to produce it and the involvement of tens of thousands of women in the numerous clinical trials undertaken to test its efficacy and safety.
A daunting prospect to many but not the dedicated scientists at the Malaghan Institute who believe passionately that their research will one day benefit the lives of fellow New Zealanders affected by disease. The reason for this is simple - our scientists do not work alone.
To successfully translate our basic research into a therapy that is used to treat patients, such as the cancer vaccine, our scientists utilise the many collaborative networks established with top researchers, clinicians and health care workers both within New Zealand and from across the world - as the proverb says "a problem shared, is a problem halved".
By world standards the Malaghan Institute is comparatively small, but our expertise in immunotherapy is internationally recognised and by working with organisations such as the National Institutes of Health in the US and the Ludwig Institute in Australia, we can ensure our groundbreaking research has a realistic chance of leading to improved health outcomes for patients.