VACCELERATE – EU initiative with UCD and NUIG involvement
Gerry O'Sullivan
Posted: 8 March, 2021
VACCELERATE is an EU initiative that will support the rapid establishment of a clinical research network spanning 21 countries, with other countries being encouraged to join. €12 million has been allocated to support the task which will work in close collaboration with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to enable clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and prepare Europe for other infectious diseases that may emerge in the future.
The Irish partners are UCD and NUI Galway, led from UCD by Infectious Diseases expert Professor Paddy Mallon, director of UCD Centre for Experimental Pathogen Host Research (CEPHR) and consultant at St Vincent’s University Hospital Infectious Diseases department.
VACCELERATE will help determine the safety and efficacy of vaccines in priority groups (such as the elderly, pregnant women, and children) and it will assess efficacy of vaccines for new SARS-CoV-2 variants, or for different combinations of different existing vaccines (“mix and match”).
It will act as a single entry point for vaccine developers, including SMEs, who are looking for European infrastructure to carry out vaccine trials, and also tap into CLIN-Net and LAB-Net – a Europe-wide network of more than 1000 clinical study sites and laboratories in 41 countries
