Boosting Vaccine Research: The 16-Year Journey of TRANSVAC Vaccine Infrastructure.

TRANSVAC represents a long-running effort to accelerate the development of novel vaccines by integrating institutions from across Europe under a single collaborative framework. This initiative has empowered the global vaccine community since 2009 including contributing toward the development and optimization of vaccine candidates as well as the provision of new adjuvants, research protocols, and technologies. Scientific services were provided in support of 88 different vaccine development projects, and 400 professionals attended TRANSVAC training events on various vaccine-related topics.

Potential business model for a European vaccine R&D infrastructure and its estimated socio-economic impact.

Background: Research infrastructures are facilities or resources that have proven fundamental for supporting scientific research and innovation. However, they are also known to be very expensive in their establishment, operation and maintenance. As by far the biggest share of these costs is always borne by public funders, there is a strong interest and indeed a necessity to develop alternative business models for such infrastructures that allow them to function in a more sustainable manner that is less dependent on public financing.

A gaps-and-needs analysis of vaccine R&D in Europe: Recommendations to improve the research infrastructure.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the importance of strategies supporting vaccine development. During the pandemic, TRANSVAC, the European vaccine-research-infrastructure initiative, undertook an in-depth consultation of stakeholders to identify how best to position and sustain a European vaccine R&D infrastructure. The consultation included an online survey incorporating a gaps-and-needs analysis, follow-up interviews and focus-group meetings.

Pipeline analysis of a vaccine candidate portfolio for diseases of poverty using the Portfolio-To-Impact modelling tool.

The Portfolio-To-Impact (P2I) P2I model is a recently developed product portfolio tool that enables users to estimate the funding needs to move a portfolio of candidate health products, such as vaccines and drugs, along the product development path from late stage preclinical to phase III clinical trials, as well as potential product launches over time. In this study we describe the use of this tool for analysing the vaccine portfolio of the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI). This portfolio includes vaccine candidates for various diseases of poverty and emerging infectious diseases at different stages of development.

Workshop report: Malaria vaccine development in Europe--preparing for the future.

The deployment of a safe and effective malaria vaccine will be an important tool for the control of malaria and the reduction in malaria deaths. With the launch of the 2030 Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap, the malaria community has updated the goals and priorities for the development of such a vaccine and is now paving the way for a second phase of malaria vaccine development. During a workshop in Brussels in November 2014, hosted by the European Vaccine Initiative, key players from the European, North American and African malaria vaccine community discussed European strategies for future malaria vaccine development in the global context.

Roadmap for the establishment of a European vaccine R&D infrastructure.

To consolidate the integration of the fragmented European vaccine development landscape, TRANSVAC - the European Network of Vaccine Research and Development, funded by the European Commission (EC) - has initiated the development of a roadmap through a process of stakeholder consultation. The outcome of this consultation highlighted the need for transnational cooperation and the opportunities that could be generated by such efforts. This cooperation can be achieved through the establishment of a European Vaccine Research and Development Infrastructure (EVRI).

Europe combating cancer: the European Union's commitment to cancer research in the 6th Framework Programme.

As one of the major health issues in Europe, cancer was a research priority in the 6th Framework Programme (2002-2006). About 485 million euros were devoted to this theme, which allowed funding of 108 multidisciplinary transnational projects. A significant part of them was large-scale initiatives addressing complex issues through a broad combination of competences.

Induction of a parafacial rhythm generator by rhombomere 3 in the chick embryo.

Observations of knock-out mice suggest that breathing at birth requires correct development of a specific hindbrain territory corresponding to rhombomeres (r) 3 and 4. Focusing on this territory, we examined the development of a neuronal rhythm generator in the chick embryo. We show that rhythmic activity in r4 is inducible after developmental stage 10 through interaction with r3.

Segment-specific expression of connexin31 in the embryonic hindbrain is regulated by Krox20.

Communication and interaction between cells has been shown to be important during the embryonic development of the vertebrate hindbrain, which becomes transiently subdivided into segments called rhombomeres (r). One gene family allowing intercellular communication and possibly being involved in the control of hindbrain development is the connexin family encoding gap junction channels. Here, we have characterized in detail the previously observed (Dahl et al.