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New Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) 2 project on the trail of next generation vaccines against pertussis (whooping cough)

Eurice is management partner in large-scale research initiative PERISCOPE

Despite the availability of effective prophylactic vaccines against pertussis, there has been a rise in the incidence of pertussis, with epidemics in Europe, Australia and the US in the last decade. As well as being a particular problem in vulnerable infants, with devastating consequences in developing countries, the incidence of pertussis is also increasing in adolescents and adults, particularly in industrialized countries. Hence, pertussis continues to be a major public health concern worldwide.

The pan-European initiative PERISCOPE sets out to accelerate improvement of prophylactic vaccines and vaccination strategies for pertussis. Launched on March 1, 2016 the project is funded with a total budget of €28mio over the next five years by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint undertaking of the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). Additionally, PERISCOPE is the first IMI project to receive funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Given the resurgence and changing epidemiology of pertussis in industrialized countries and the persistent low level of vaccination coverage and high infant mortality caused by pertussis in low income countries, PERISCOPE represents a concerted effort aiming to accelerate the development of improved vaccination strategies that ensure solid, long-lasting protection against infection”, says Prof. Ronald de Groot from Radboud University Medical Center and coordinator of PERISCOPE.

“This implies, first and foremost, that we need to gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis and underlying mechanisms of the infection to be able to identify novel vaccine candidates. However, it is equally important to rebuild the ecosystem for pertussis research and the technical infrastructure needed in Europe to successfully evaluate those novel candidates”.

PERISCOPE will focus on three major areas: 1) Setting up a comprehensive clinical research programme to study the immune response of individuals of all ages to pertussis infection and vaccination; 2) the establishment of parallel clinical and pre-clinical models of pertussis infection, and 3) the development of a comprehensive battery of state-of-the-art bioassays, to help reveal the markers of an effective and long-lasting immune response to pertussis infection in both clinical and preclinical study subjects. PERISCOPE will also seek to study immunization in pregnancy to gain a better understanding of the impact of maternal antibodies on the infant’s immune responses to pertussis.

PERISCOPE assembles a multi-national team of leading experts from 22 partnering institutions with long-standing experience in pertussis research, clinical trials, bioinformatics, immunology and public health. The consortium also includes Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline, two of the world’s largest and most experienced vaccine manufacturers, as industrial partners.

As management partner Eurice will support the PERISCOPE consortium in all aspects related to project management and communications.

Partners in PERISCOPE:

Belgium

  • GlaxoSmithKline
  • Q-Biologicals NV
  • Université libre de Bruxelles

Czech Republic

  • Mikrobiologicky USTAV - AVCR, V.V.I.

Finland

  • Turun Yliopisto

France

  • Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux energies alternatives
  • Institut Pasteur de Lille
  • Sanofi Pasteur SA

The Gambia

  • Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia

Germany

  • Eurice GmbH

Ireland

  • Trinity College Dublin

Netherlands

  • Leids Universiteir Medisch Centrum
  • Radboud university medical center
  • Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu part of the Dutch State

Spain

  • Universidad de Salamanca

Switzerland

  • Universität Basel
  • Hospices Cantonaux CHUV

UK

  • The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford
  • Department of Health (Public Health England)
  • Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine
  • University of Bath
  • University of Southampton

Project details
Name: PERISCOPE – PERtussIS COrrelates of Protection Europe
Start date: 2016-03-01
Duration: 60 months
Budget: €28mio
Coordination: Stichting Katholieke Universiteit

Contact
Coordinator
Radboud university medical center
Prof. Ronald de Groot
Phone: +31 24 3667347
Email

Project Management
Eurice - European Research and Project Office GmbH
Jakob Haardt
Phone: +49 30 374415 841
Email

EFPIA Coordinator
Sanofi Pasteur
Dr Patricia Londoño-Hayes

For more information, please visit: www.periscope-project.eu

About Eurice

Eurice offers knowledge-based consultancy services in project and innovation management.

Eurice Head Office
Heinrich-Hertz-Allee 1
66386 St. Ingbert
Germany
Phone: +49 6894 388130
Email
Eurice Berlin
Alt-Reinickendorf 25
13407 Berlin
Germany
Phone: +49 30 374415840
Email