The University of Oxford has hosted a visit from the Minister for Development and Africa for a tour of its vaccine development groups.

Andrew Mitchell MP toured the Jenner Institute, the Oxford Vaccine Group, and the Pandemic Sciences Institute, following a government announcement of an additional £10 million to support the roll-out of two new malaria vaccines developed by British scientists.

In his visit, Mr Mitchell engaged with Professor Sir Adrian Hill, the creator of the R21/Matrix-MTM malaria vaccine which recently obtained World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification.

He learned about the research methodologies and state-of-the-art technologies used by Oxford researchers in several concurrent malaria trials.

He was joined by Professor Charlotte Watts, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office chief scientific adviser and director for research and evidence.

Mr Mitchell said: "Every week, Malaria kills 10,000 children under 5 and pregnant women.

"The tragedy is that these deaths are entirely preventable.

"British science has invented game changing malaria vaccines which will help protect millions of people and save thousands of lives.

"The government is committed to rolling these out as effectively and ambitiously as possible as part of global efforts to make malaria history."

Professor Adrian Hill, director and founder of the Jenner Institute, said: "This funding comes at a critical moment, allowing us to pursue our ambitious programme to develop vaccines against Malaria and to pursue our life saving work against future pandemics."

Mr Mitchell also met with several leading principal investigators at the University, who are developing vaccines for diseases with pandemic potential.

Among those he met were Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Professor Teresa Lambe, Professor Sir Peter Horby and Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert.

They discussed various vaccines under development and strategies to prepare for future outbreaks.

Professor Lambe said: "We need to build on what we have learned from previous pandemics to prepare for both localised outbreaks and also more significant epidemics.

"Only by working together, across boundaries and disciplines generating a blueprint of what to do and when to do it, can we truly prepare for the next pandemic.

"Building resilience in the system and working across disciplines will not only protect us against future pandemics but will also spur great scientific advances with impact for all."

Professor Gilbert, added: "Creating a safe and effective vaccine necessitates collaboration between academia, government, and industry.

"Our team has spent a considerable amount of time devising strategies to expedite the process from the moment a new pathogen is detected, through clinical trials, to vaccine production, without compromising safety."

She emphasised the need for investment in "large-scale facilities and consortia of researchers" for successful pandemic response.