Business Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n“It is a completely new vaccine. It has been tested in labs and it works well on animals.”<\/p>\n
The project has been financed to date through the government’s Small Business Research Initiative, and Ensilitech is now seeking a continuation grant as it progresses towards pre-clinical development and, ultimately, human trials.<\/p>\n
“Hantaviruses have been around for a long time. Around 200,000 people a year get infected with hantaan and it has horrendous outcomes.<\/p>\n
“We are living in a more and more globalised world where people travel to a lot to places where these diseases are endemic, so there is a case for a travel vaccine,” said Dr Sartbaeva.<\/p>\n
“It is super important to continue this work. We are excited that we have created an antigen already which really can be scaled up and put forward as a potential vaccine, but without the funding we won’t be able to continue this work.”<\/p>\n
![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_BRI_HB_130526-bristol-ensilitech.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Scientists inside the EnsiliTech lab(Image: Anthony Brown Photography)<\/p>\n
According to Dr Sartbaeva, should funding be obtained and development progress, the vaccine could become available for use within aroundthree to four years.<\/p>\n
The development follows news that 10 individuals from the UK Overseas Territories of Saint Helena and Ascension Island who were travelling on the hantavirus-affected cruise ship MV Hondius – or had been in contact with passengers – are being transported to Britain for self-isolation as a “precautionary measure”.<\/p>\n
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is presently monitoring and delivering public health guidance regarding the outbreak, after three people died on board.<\/p>\n
The director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also cautioned health officials to anticipate rising hantavirus infection numbers, though stated this week there was “no sign” of a broader outbreak beginning.<\/p>\n
“Of course, the situation could change,” he said. “And given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.” He added: “All suspected and confirmed cases have been isolated and managed under strict medical supervision, minimizing any risk of further transmission.”<\/p>\n
The WHO maintains its position that the global public health risk remains low.<\/p>\n
“The message is clear: preventing diseases is a lot cheaper than treating them,” added Dr Sartbaeva. “If we get more funding for development, the return on investment will be amazing. It’s a no brainer economically speaking.”<\/p>\n
Ensilitech, co-founded by Dr Sartbaeva and Dr Aswin Doekhie in 2022, has already pioneered groundbreaking technology enabling vaccines and other biological materials to be transported and stored without refrigeration.<\/p>\n
According to its founders, the innovative platform shields biopharmaceuticals from heat deterioration by enclosing them within a bespoke silica shell. Last year, the technology earned national recognition for its contribution to sustainably improving access to life-saving treatments worldwide, particularly in areas where reliable refrigeration is unavailable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The work is ‘super important’ Dr Asel Sartbaeva is a co-founder of EnsiliTech in Bristol(Image: University of Bath)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":956917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[14141,381,748,2266,393,4884,378,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-956916","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bath-and-north-east-somerset","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-in-the-news","15":"tag-technology","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116567017109882857","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/956917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_HBBRI_240123-EnsiliTech.jpg\")
<\/p>\n