I-REIVAC Emergence: A national clinical vaccine research platform against emerging infectious diseases

The I-REIVAC network

Founded in 2007 and initially with four clinical investigation centres, the REIVAC network gradually evolved to become a national network of excellence in clinical vaccine research in 2014 – the Innovative Clinical Research Network in Vaccinology (I-REIVAC), certified by the French Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (F-CRIN).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the network underwent significant development and currently comprises over 30 Clinical Investigation- and Clinical Research Centres associated with Biological Resource Centres and some ten vaccine immunomonitoring laboratories. During this period, I-REIVAC coordinated 13 clinical studies and helped structure French clinical vaccine research as part of the COVIREIVAC  project (2020-2022) with around €6.9 million in funding from the Ministries of Health and Research.

The I-REIVAC Emergence platform

The I-REIVAC-Emergence platform aims to strengthen the structure of the I-REIVAC national vaccine research network in order to be able to respond quickly and effectively to future infectious threats by developing innovative solutions.

I-REIVAC Emergence is funded to the tune of €12 million by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of measure 6 of the “EID* and CBRN**” national strategy of the France 2030 Investment Plan for a period of five years. The platform is jointly run by Inserm/ANRS EID and AP-HP.

Goal and actions of I-REIVAC Emergence

The goal is to consolidate and strengthen existing infrastructures in order to increase France’s capacity to respond quickly and effectively to vaccine research needs during future emergences, by ensuring effective coordination between the various players in the sector.

The project is supported by a network of 10 first-line university hospitals mobilising their Clinical Investigation Centres (10) and Biological Resource Centres (8), a network of 6 first-line vaccine immunomonitoring laboratories  and 3 Methodology and Management Centres, all selected for their expertise in vaccinology.

Eight areas of action have been defined:

• Coordination, operation and governance of the various actors involved in inter-crisis and crisis situations.
• Scientific coordination and development of clinical vaccine research.
• Strengthening of Clinical Investigation Centre resources by ensuring the long-term future of medical staff that can be mobilised in the event of emergence.
• Implementation of interoperability of trial methodology, particularly with the development of source protocols and data management (Methodology and Management Centres).
• Implementation of sample management via the Biological Resource Centre network in connection with national biobanks: automation, standardisation and certification of preparations.
• Optimisation of the reproducibility of results from immunomonitoring laboratories: automation, standardisation and certification of immunological tests.
• Ensure the functioning of the national register of volunteers ready to be mobilised to advance French vaccine research.
• Development of studies in the human and social sciences, particularly on the acceptability of vaccination and vaccine research.

National and European perspectives

The I-REIVAC Emergence platform works closely with national partners, including the therapeutic clinical research platform OPEN ReMIE, the platform for genomic surveillance and research on emerging pathogen infections EMERGEN 2.0, and the Biocluster***. I-REIVAC Emergence will also strengthen collaborations with other key players in clinical research, such as the FCRIN network, PedStart, for vaccine research in the paediatric population, and the P4 laboratory in Lyon, to be able to respond to the most severe infectious threats.

At the European level, I-REIVAC Emergence is a stakeholder in the European Vaccine Hub (EVH) programme, an initiative of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA).^§

Thanks to its structure as a network comprising Clinical Investigation Centres, Biological Resource Centres, vaccine immunomonitoring laboratories and Methodology and Management Centres, a strong coordination team and strategic collaborations, I-REIVAC Emergence aims to become a reference centre in clinical vaccinology, ready to respond to health emergencies with optimal responsiveness.

* Emerging Infectious Diseases

** Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear

*** Innovation ecosystem bringing together laboratories, research centres, healthcare centres and companies working in the healthcare field

^§ HERA is an authority created by the European Commission that helps to bring surveillance and research closer together to help bring products to market and ultimately make Europe more resilient to pandemics