Vaccine Development

Fargo Moorhead has a history of excellence in health care and life sciences, including medicine, pharmacy and agriculture.  As we look to the future, we are positioning ourselves as a leader in cutting edge vaccine development.  Partnerships between the private sector and academia, and the region's large number of college-graduates in life science and healthcare disciplines, make it possible. 

Vaccine discovery and delivery is an emerging focus for pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and an area in which Fargo Moorhead is differentiating itself from competing communities.  Private industry leaders, such as Aldevron, are serving the world in ways that, until recently, were not possible.  Aldevron offers high-demand products and services to the DNA vaccine and gene therapy community. Its core technology is a proprietary method to produce and purify plasmid DNA.  Aldevron has locations in Fargo and Germany, and serves over a thousand clients located around the world.

Fargo Moorhead is home to the North Dakota State University College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Sciences (PNAS), which graduates nearly 100 pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists annually.  In addition, more than 2,500 students are currently enrolled in life sciences and health care fields at NDSU, Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) Concordia College and local technical and business colleges. These graduates go on to successful careers at local life science companies such as Aldevron, PRACS Institute and Clinical Supplies Management, and healthcare providers like MeritCare Health System, Innovis Health and the VA Medical Center. 

The College of Pharmacy is making major strides toward becoming a research powerhouse with its new Center of Biopharmaceuticals Research and Production (CBRP).  The Center will utilize the extensive robotic capabilities of NDSU's Combinatorial Materials Laboratory to perform high throughput combinatorial experimentation and research in vaccine discovery. High throughput processes involves the generation and testing of hundreds of experiments simultaneously using highly automated, parallel processes.  It enables researchers and companies to accelerate the design, development, and testing of vaccine candidates and other biological products.  

Concordia College also contributes to the growing critical mass of vaccine research in Fargo Moorhead with its Global Vaccine Institute.  The Institute performs research and development in vaccine design and pre-clinical trials, focusing on neglected tropical diseases such as hookworm.

For career opportunities in vaccine development, the life sciences and healthcare, please visit the Fargo Moorhead's career website, CareerFM.com.