41 partners from 11 different countries, including 37 academic institutions and SMEs, as well as several industry partners are involved in Inno4vac. It brings together experts in clinical research, immunology, microbiology, systems biology, mathematical models, and regulatory issues.

Vaccine development

Vaccines save an estimated 2.5 million lives every year and protect millions more from illness and disability. It is one of the most impactful public health interventions in history. However, vaccine development is extremely time consuming and costly. On average, it takes over 10 years and costs more than EUR 800 million to bring a new vaccine to the market. Fortunately, researchers in academia and biotech companies have made huge strides in fields such as immunology, big data, and artificial intelligence in recent years. These advances could potentially speed up the development of new vaccines and make the whole process more efficient.

Role of RIVM

RIVM has the scientific lead in the project’s Subtopic 3, ‘Human in vitro 3D mucosa models and assays’ and will contribute to Work Package 12 ‘3D in vitro Models and assays: Roadmap, standardisation and guidelines’. RIVM also leads Work Package 14, ‘Development of respiratory models and assay prototypes’. Read more about Inno4vac. By participating in this project, RIVM expects to contribute to new knowledge and methodologies in the field of correlates of protection against pathogens, advancing disease prevention by vaccines.

Funding

Inno4vac has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).