European Clinical Research Alliance on Infectious Diseases (ECRAID) - Business Plan

Project Information

ECRAID-Plan

Grant agreement ID: 825715

DOI

10.3030/825715

Project closed

EC signature date 4 December 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 30 June 2021

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being

Total cost

€ 2 994 560,00

EU contribution

€ 2 994 560,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM UTRECHT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ECRAID-Plan (European Clinical Research Alliance on Infectious Diseases (ECRAID) - Business Plan)

Reporting period: 2020-01-01 to 2021-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Infectious diseases continue to pose a serious threat to global health and economies. The discovery of antibiotics and the development of new vaccines have saved millions of lives and led to major public health victories. Despite these successes, common infections, caused by known pathogens still have a large impact on global health, especially to vulnerable patient groups. In the last few decades, the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has further increased the mortality and morbidity of bacterial infections. In addition to the problem of AMR, we have seen the (re)emergence of new pathogens, especially zoonotic pathogens (pathogens that have crossed the species barrier from animals to humans). Although different in their origin, spread, modes of transmission, and clinical manifestations, the infectious diseases caused by these emerging and re-emerging pathogens have one thing in common: they constitute a global threat to human health and can disrupt entire economies.
Long-term, sustained, and coordinated efforts are needed to develop and implement a wide range of preventive and reactive interventions to limit the impact of infectious diseases. This includes both clinical interventions (e.g. antimicrobials, vaccines, diagnostics, treatment regimens etc.) as well as public health interventions (e.g. quarantine measures, lockdowns, hygiene measures, physical distancing, face masks etc.).
ECRAID aims to provide for the platform to support such a coordinated approach in Europe, focussing on the efficient and effective development and implementation of clinical interventions against infectious diseases.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

ECRAID-Plan was launched at a high-level kick off meeting in January 2019, Brussels. At the first consortium meeting in May the why, what, who of ECRAID-Plan was discussed. This resulted in a first draft of the business plan. Over the summer of 2019, three writing teams consisting of ECRAID-Plan’s partners continued to develop the service proposition of ECRAID, along with the operational aspects needed to offer these services. During the second consortium meeting in September the draft business plan was discussed with all partners, which led to a second version of the business plan. Furthermore, ECRAID’s service proposition was discussed with industry stakeholders during a workshop at the ESCMID conference in Boston. At the consortium meeting in December the focus was on fine-tuning the purpose, vision and mission and service offering of ECRAID. In the third version of the business plan these paragraphs are worked out in more detail.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the writing of the business plan was somewhat delayed. In February 2020 the third version of the business plan was submitted. During the consortium meeting in September 2020 the fourth version was discussed. Based on the feedback received, the fifth version was drafted and sent to the consortium in February 2021. Discussions during the consortium meeting in March 2021 resulted in a sixth version of the business plan. Only with some minor changes the final version was submitted on 30 June 2021.

The business plan:
• Functions as the central guiding document presenting the agreed strategy for the development of ECRAID;
• Serves as a means to build awareness of and support for ECRAID amongst stakeholders;
• Aims to attract sufficient start-up funding/income to commence operations in ECRAID.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The ECRAID network aims to provide an efficient European infrastructure capable of performing all aspects of clinical studies, from design to dissemination, that will function as the backbone of clinical research activities in the field of infectious diseases. Activities of the network will be coordinated by a lean organisation, with direct and a single point of access for all relevant stakeholders to the network and to world-leading infectious disease experts. Key design principles built into the network’s organisation and operations will ensure the delivery of a rapid and coordinated research response to public health emergency events that represent an imminent or immediate threat to the health and security of people living in Europe.

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