OPEN-ReMIE: a "plan blanc" for clinical research to cope with future epidemics

OPEN-ReMIE, an operational crisis tool, serving public health

OPEN-ReMIE (réseau OPEpérationnel National de REcherche clinique pour les Maladies Infectieuses Emergentes*) is a national interventional clinical research network for emerging infectious diseases in France. It is co-directed by two infectious diseases specialists who were heavily involved during the Covid-19 crisis, Prof. Florence ADER (Hospices Civils de Lyon) and Prof. Karine LACOMBE (AP-HP). Structured around a network of healthcare facilities, research laboratories and institutional partners, the OPEN-ReMIE platform aims to speed up the implementation of clinical trials in response to epidemics and pandemics, with a view to optimising patient care.

Inspired by the concept of crisis management, OPEN-ReMIE operates like a “plan blanc” for clinical therapeutic research, enabling resources and infrastructures to be mobilised immediately in the event of a public health crisis. The whole point of OPEN-ReMIE is to create optimal and appropriate conditions for an accelerated testing of the efficacy and safety of new treatments in hospitalised patients, in the event of an epidemic or potential pandemic, whether these treatments come from academia or industry.

Working together for a national and European response

In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, France is one of the few countries to have set up a system to prevent and combat emerging infectious diseases, investing massively in research and innovation through its Health Innovation Plan 2030.

As part of a coordinated and organised global response to future epidemics, OPEN-ReMIE works with other national platforms receiving France 2030 funding, such as:

• EMERGEN 2.0, launched on 19 March 2025 (press release): a genomics research and monitoring platform created as an extension of the EMERGEN consortium launched in 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• I-REIVAC EMERGENCE, launched on 31 March 2025 (press release): a network dedicated to clinical research in vaccinology, with a goal and a way to operate similar to that of OPEN-ReMIE.
• OBEPINE+: a national platform for monitoring, research and development in epidemiology via wastewater.

The OPEN-ReMIE platform is also part of a dynamic of international collaboration, working with research networks such as the PROACT EU-Response project (European Proactive Adaptive Clinical Trials Network within EU-Response) led by Prof. Karine LACOMBE, a proactive European network of adaptive clinical trials as a component of the European Union’s response. It is helping to improve the coordination of clinical trials on a European and global scale.

Roll-out and timetable

The project began on 1^st March 2025 and will run for 5 years, with funding provided by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part off the France 2030 plan. The kick-off meeting was held on 21 March, bringing together all the partners to formalise the next steps and activities to be implemented.