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Testing vaccines

Our work was a critical part of the rapid global response to COVID-19. We tested three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, helping them to progress to human trials.

COVID-19 vaccine testing

Our preclinical trials of leading vaccine candidates supported the global race against the pandemic to help find a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

Heat-tolerant vaccine testing

We contributed to the pre-clinical assessment of Mynvax – a heat-tolerant COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Indian Institute of Science and biotech start-up company Mynvax– against several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

Rapid screening platform for COVID-19 treatments

We developed a novel screening platform; a faster, smarter way of rapidly screening existing drugs and advancing those that could be used to treat COVID-19, including long-COVID.

Learn more about this research

Supporting Australia's response

Monitoring wastewater for COVID-19

Australian researchers tracked COVID-19 prevalence in the community through tracing the presence of the novel coronavirus gene in raw sewage.

Manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine

How do we produce a COVID-19 vaccine that is safe, effective and can be mass-produced? We take you into our labs to find out!

Mask Testing Facility

We've opened Australia’s first accredited single-use surgical face mask testing facility. The facility enables manufacturers to test their products to Australian and international standards in Australia and supply healthcare workers with this vital piece of protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond.

Understanding and tracking the virus

The more we know about COVID-19, the better equipped we are to fight the pandemic. From understanding how the virus is mutating to how long it survives, our researchers are working to improve our knowledge of COVID-19 and the virus that causes it.

SARS-CoV-2 survival

We looked at how long the virus survives on six common surfaces at three different temperatures, 20°C, 30°C and 40°C.

Tracking the spread and forecasting infection rates

We provided federal and state health agencies with COVID-19 data tracking and forecasting to support decisions around Australia’s outbreak response.

Reducing transmission

COVID-19 vaccine manufacture

We worked with vaccine developers to produce small volumes of candidate vaccines to the highest quality standards, for use in trials. If successful, our manufacturing process can be scaled with an industry partner.

Telehealth and technology during COVID-19

As the world slowed down, the demand for technological solutions went viral. Digital solutions quickly shifted from a slow adoption path to a record pace of uptake. But none of this was new to CSIRO having long been at the forefront of eHealth solutions and technological innovation and this helped during the response to COVID-19.

COVID-19 face masks

We tested the performance of advanced materials produced by local manufacturers to boost the supply of medical equipment needed in Australia’s fight against COVID-19.

Face shields

We used 3D printing to produce two designs of protective face shields for Queensland healthcare workers.

Protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19 aerosols

We worked to increase the safety of Australia's heathcare workers by improving our understanding of COVID-19 aerosol production during medical procedures. We also tested newly developed personal protective equipment.

Our global response

We worked closely with international consortia such as The Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network (BSL4ZNet) and European Virus Archive - GLOBAL (EVAg), sharing information on activity, best practice and reagents and materials, including SARS CoV-2 viruses. This made sure we did not compete or duplicate our research and development efforts during the pandemic.

We established a partnership with the Peter Doherty Institute to test candidate antiviral compounds from international manufacturers. We represented Australia in a World Health Organisation meeting on COVID-19. We engaged in dialogue with several international consortia to establish novel diagnostic capability.

We received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global group that aimed to speed up the development of vaccines and cut short the COVID-19 pandemic. With this funding, we undertook pre-clinical testing of two candidate vaccines.

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