Project description
Advancing vaccine access for neglected diseases in Africa
Vaccines against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are not yet widely available in sub- Saharan Africa. This is mainly because vaccine trials have often been conducted outside the populations most at risk. With this in mind, the EU-funded EAVI project is establishing a European-African vaccine partnership to evaluate the safety and immune response to a Chikungunya vaccine in both healthy adults and people living with HIV. Through a clinical trial, advanced immunological research, enhanced disease surveillance, and capacity building, EAVI aims to generate evidence to support the introduction of vaccines in Africa and establish a platform for the evaluation of vaccines against other NTDs in the future.
Objective
Access to vaccines against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where NTD burdens are high, while vaccine trials often are performed in Western populations. There is an urgent need to test, license and distribute vaccines in SSA populations at risk of NTDs, especially vulnerable groups like those with co-infections. The European-African vaccine initiative (EAVI) closes this gap by developing a European-African vaccine partnership to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of prophylactic vaccines against NTDs in SSA. As a proof of concept, EAVI will evaluate a live-attenuated Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) vaccine—licensed in EU, Canada, UK, and Brazil—in healthy and in vulnerable HIV-positive adults in Africa. To achieve this, we will: 1. perform a two-armed clinical phase IIIb clinical trial in Kenya and Tanzania with rigorous safety and immunogenicity endpoints; 2. carry out in-depth immune-profiling using gold-standard and beyond state-of-the-art methodology; 3. integrate prevention and surveillance through enhanced diagnostics and One Health prospective serosurvey in humans and vector monitoring; 4. foster technology transfer, capacity building, and training in SSA as well as strategic partnerships for robust stakeholder and community engagement and uptake. EAVI’s multidisciplinary expertise of clinicians, social scientists, statisticians, epidemiologists, immunologists, virologists, and vaccine manufacturers provides proven experience in implementing complex clinical trials in SSA, including in people living with HIV, and the most innovative immune-profiling technologies to leverage the full potential of the trial. It will pave the way toward access of the CHIKV vaccine in SSA to fight this NTD as well as a roadmap for future trials of other NTD vaccines, in healthy, HIV-positive and other vulnerable populations in SSA.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.1 - Health
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-JU-RIA - HORIZON JU Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-JU-GH-EDCTP3-2025-01-two-stage
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
6020 Innsbruck
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.