Does Vaccine Development Need to Be Quicker?

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only underscored how vulnerable humans are to infectious diseases but also pushed the limits of vaccine research and development. Under normal circumstances, developing an effective vaccine can take anywhere from 10 to 15 years.

The long timespan is due to the huge amount of research required to develop a vaccine, as well as the strict testing and safety protocols that must be carried out before it can be administered to the public. The mumps vaccine, which is now included in the widely used MMR vaccine, boasts one of the fastest development times, with researchers finalising the composition in just four years.

COVID-19 proves accelerating vaccine development timelines is possible

While the 10 to 15 year timeline was considered standard in the pre COVID-19 world, the development of vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and Oxford AstraZeneca has demonstrated the potential to accelerate the process. Experts credit global collaboration, as well as advances in genomic sequencing and mRNA vaccine technology, for the drastically reduced timeline.

So, is there room to improve in the future? With infectious disease experts warning more pandemics could be on the way, the push to speed up vaccine development has never been more important.

Inno4Vac initiative set to fast-track development

In Europe, an increasing number of companies are supporting a continent-wide initiative to fast-track vaccine research and development timelines. Insilico Biotechnology is one of the latest big names to join the Inno4Vac interdisciplinary project, which has received more than €33 million in funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2). Data science and advanced predictive models will be used to accelerate the development and manufacturing of new vaccines, with the project set to run until 2027.

“The scientific community has recognised the urgent need to significantly reduce the time-to-market for new vaccines, as required by the continued advance of infectious diseases,” asserts Insilico Biotechnology CEO, Klaus Mauch. “Therefore, Insilico is excited to be part of the Inno4Vac partnership and to work with renowned partners who will make use of Insilico's latest technology platform and modelling experience to accelerate the availability of new vaccines.”

As part of its commitment to fast-tracking vaccine development, Insilico Biotechnology will be exploring four key areas:

• The use of artificial intelligence (AI), computer modelling and big data analysis to simulate vaccine immune response and predict efficacy.

• The development of a computer platform to model vaccine manufacturing potential and test for stability.

• The establishment of new human infection models for influenza, as well as Respiratory Syncytial Virus and Clostridium, to help evaluate early vaccine efficacy.

• The development of cell-based human in vitro models to predict immunological protection levels.

Find out more about the exciting project fronted by more than 40 partners from 11 different European countries in ‘Vaccine Development Initiative gathers speed.’