London: The Europe Union and drugmakers pledged on Thursday to invest 280 million euros ($350 million) in Ebola research, with the lion's share going to the testing and manufacture of potential vaccines.
The funding will go to projects backed by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private scheme jointly paid for by the European Commission and the pharmaceuticals industry.
Reuters reported on Oct. 22 that an IMI investment of around 200 million euros was pending. Since then, further discussions have been held about the resources needed for various projects and the amount has been increased.
The final document setting out the plans commits the European Commission to giving as much as 140 million euros, with companies providing an equivalent amount in staff time, goods and services.
"The EU is determined to help find a solution to Ebola. We are putting our money where our mouth is and boosting EU research on Ebola with an additional 280 million euros," said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for research.
The move shows how momentum is building to get medical intervention, especially vaccines, to West Africa as soon as possible, to try to control the world's worst Ebola outbreak, which has killed nearly 5,000 people, according to official data. Many experts believe the true death toll is a lot higher.
The EU is also beginning its biggest single operation of transporting supplies to West Africa, with a Dutch ship sailing on Thursday from the Netherlands, loaded with ambulances, mobile hospitals, laboratories and other equipment provided by nine European countries.
FIVE PRIORITY PROJECTS
With a total budget of 3.3 billion euros for the period 2014 to 2024, Europe's IMI scheme is the world's biggest public-private partnership in life sciences.
It began in 2008 and now has 46 ongoing projects, some of which are focused on specific health issues such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer and obesity. Others involve work on broader challenges in drug development.
In the case of Ebola, five urgent projects have been identified involving the three stages of vaccine clinical trials; vaccine manufacturing; vaccine transport and storage; regimens for vaccination deployment; and rapid diagnostic tests.
The aim is to head off some of the technical obstacles that public health officials, governments and drugmakers face as they try to develop the world's first Ebola vaccines in record time.
The challenges include finding enough vaccine manufacturing and filling capacity, getting accelerated clinical trial results, winning rapid regulatory approvals and building a supply chain in Africa for products that must be stored at ultra-low temperatures.
For diagnostics, the goal is to develop a simple test for Ebola infection that can generate results within three hours and preferably in less than 30 minutes.
Two leading vaccine candidates from GlaxoSmithKline and NewLink Genetics are already in human safety trials. Another five should begin testing in the first quarter of next year. One from Johnson & Johnson will start trials in January.
The three leading companies hope to make millions of doses over the course of 2015.
The funding will go to projects backed by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a public-private scheme jointly paid for by the European Commission and the pharmaceuticals industry.
Reuters reported on Oct. 22 that an IMI investment of around 200 million euros was pending. Since then, further discussions have been held about the resources needed for various projects and the amount has been increased.
"The EU is determined to help find a solution to Ebola. We are putting our money where our mouth is and boosting EU research on Ebola with an additional 280 million euros," said Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for research.
Advertisement
The EU is also beginning its biggest single operation of transporting supplies to West Africa, with a Dutch ship sailing on Thursday from the Netherlands, loaded with ambulances, mobile hospitals, laboratories and other equipment provided by nine European countries.
Advertisement
With a total budget of 3.3 billion euros for the period 2014 to 2024, Europe's IMI scheme is the world's biggest public-private partnership in life sciences.
Advertisement
In the case of Ebola, five urgent projects have been identified involving the three stages of vaccine clinical trials; vaccine manufacturing; vaccine transport and storage; regimens for vaccination deployment; and rapid diagnostic tests.
Advertisement
The challenges include finding enough vaccine manufacturing and filling capacity, getting accelerated clinical trial results, winning rapid regulatory approvals and building a supply chain in Africa for products that must be stored at ultra-low temperatures.
Advertisement
Two leading vaccine candidates from GlaxoSmithKline and NewLink Genetics are already in human safety trials. Another five should begin testing in the first quarter of next year. One from Johnson & Johnson will start trials in January.
The three leading companies hope to make millions of doses over the course of 2015.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
COMMENTS
Advertisement
West Indies vs South Africa 2nd Test Day 3 Live Score Updates West Indies vs South Africa Highlights 2nd Test Day 2: Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder Give South Africa Big Lead On Day 2 vs West Indies UAE Possible Candidate To Host Women's T20 World Cup 2024, Bangladesh Ask For More Time Life On Earth Originates From One Ancestor, Older Than Previously Believed Siddaramaiah's Swipe At Governor Amid Calls For Resignation: 10 Points Omar Abdullah On What Should Be J&K Assembly's 1st Move After Polls Top Institutes In India For Architecture And Planning Courses Passengers Can Now Rent Power Banks On NaMo Bharat Trains Assam Teacher Shows Porn To Girl Students, Protesters Set School On Fire Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.