Boosting Vaccine Research: The 16-Year Journey of TRANSVAC Vaccine Infrastructure
William Martin,
Catarina Luís,
Stefan Jungbluth,
Monika Slezak,
Frank A. W. Verreck,
Holger Spiegel,
Carlos A. Guzman,
António Roldão,
Manuel J. T. Carrondo,
Peter Van der Ley,
Joaquim Segalés,
Hazel M. Dockrell,
Mei Mei Ho,
Gabriel K. Pedersen,
Maria Lawrenz,
Ole F. Olesen
Affiliations
William Martin
European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Catarina Luís
European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Stefan Jungbluth
European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Monika Slezak
European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Frank A. W. Verreck
Biomedical Primate Research Centre (BPRC), 2288 GJ Rijswijk, The Netherlands
Holger Spiegel
Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Carlos A. Guzman
Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
António Roldão
iBET—Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, 2781-901 Oeiras, Portugal
Manuel J. T. Carrondo
iBET—Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, 2781-901 Oeiras, Portugal
Peter Van der Ley
Intravacc BV, 3721 MA Bilthoven, The Netherlands
Joaquim Segalés
Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Departament de Sanitat i Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
Hazel M. Dockrell
Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
Mei Mei Ho
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Potters Bar EN6 3QG, UK
Gabriel K. Pedersen
Department of Infectious Disease Immunology, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark
Maria Lawrenz
Vaccine Formulation Institute (VFI), Plan-les-Ouates, 1228 Geneva, Switzerland
Ole F. Olesen
European Vaccine Initiative (EVI), 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
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. Here, we review the accomplishments of the TRANSVAC consortia and analyze the continued needs of academic and industrial vaccine developers in Europe. The findings highlight the benefits of coordination across different sectors, both through research infrastructures such as TRANSVAC and other mechanisms, to address the current and future global health challenges and ensure that European vaccine developers have the support required to successfully compete in the global market.
