European Commission renews funding to support vaccine innovation via European research infrastructure
Vaccines are one of the most successful and cost-effective public health tools for disease prevention. Their development though is time-consuming and complex, requiring a combination of specialised skills and technical capacities not readily available at a single organisation. In order to facilitate access to these skills and capacities and to promote collaborations in the European vaccine landscape – aiming thereby to accelerate the development of safe, effective and affordable vaccines – the European Commission (EC), in the context of the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, recently committed significant funding to TRANSVAC2, a European vaccine research and development (R&D) infrastructure.
Dr Odile Leroy, Executive Director of the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI) and coordinator of TRANSVAC2, comments: “The TRANSVAC2 activities will further strengthen the vaccine R&D infrastructure in Europe and will thereby accelerate the development of effective vaccines that are urgently needed to address global health challenges”.
TRANSVAC2 builds upon the success of TRANSVAC, the European Network of Vaccine Research and Development funded under the EC´s previous Framework Programme (FP7). TRANSVAC made significant contributions to the European vaccine development landscape, providing scientific-technical services to more than 29 vaccine projects and developing a roadmap for the establishment of a sustainable European vaccine R&D.
“Vaccines Europe is delighted to support this important initiative. TRANSVAC2 offers a great potential to significantly accelerate innovation in vaccines through collaboration of all key translational research stakeholders”, says Anna Czwarno from Vaccines Europe -an association representing the European vaccine industry- and member of the TRANSVAC2 Board of Stakeholders.
TRANSVAC2 will support innovation for both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine development. High-quality technical services across four different service platforms will be offered: Technology (for process development and GMP production), Immunocorrelates & Systems Biology, Animal models, and support for Clinical Trials. Researchers, including those from industry, can apply to benefit from the expertise, reagents, and facilities offered by TRANSVAC2 to accelerate the development of their vaccines. The call for applications is planned to be launched in October 2017. TRANSVAC2 will further accelerate vaccine development by applying cutting-edge technologies to address critical issues in modern vaccine development and thereby increase the quality of services provided. Additionally, TRANSVAC2 will continue the efforts to establish a sustainable vaccine development infrastructure in Europe.
With this comprehensive approach, TRANSVAC2 will function as leverage and innovation catalyst between all stakeholders involved in vaccine R&D in Europe, and will contribute to the development of effective products to address European and global health challenges. This will reinforce the European leadership in controlling the burden and spread of diseases, and the economic assets represented by vaccine developers in Europe.
For further information, please visit the project website.
Source: CORDIS – Community Research and Development Information Service
