Building the Human Vaccines Project: strategic management recommendations and summary report of the 15–16 July 2014 business workshop

Abstract

The Human Vaccines Project is a bold new initiative, with the goal of solving the principal scientific problem impeding vaccine development for infectious diseases and cancers: the generation of specific, broad, potent and durable immune responses in humans. In the July 2014 workshop, 20 leaders from the public and private sectors came together to give input on strategic business issues for the creation of the Human Vaccines Project. Participants recommended the Project to be established as a nonprofit public–private partnership, structured as a global R&D consortium closely engaged with industrial partners, and located/affiliated with one or more major academic centers conducting vaccine R&D. If successful, participants concluded that the Project could greatly accelerate the development of new and improved vaccines, with the potential to transform disease prevention in the 21st century.

Keywords:

• clinical research
• human immunology
• public–private partnership
• translational research
• vaccines

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank L Gieber for accessing ‘pre-read’ materials for the workshop and S Glass and O Shmaidenko for logistics and organizational support for the workshop.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Support for the Human Vaccines Project workshop was provided by a grant to The International AIDS Vaccines Initiative (WC Koff) from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Key issues

• Human Vaccines Project aims to elucidate the ‘rules of immunogenicity’ in humans.

• Workshop held in July 2014 to review strategic business issues in preparation for launch of the Human Vaccines Project.

• This workshop followed scientific workshop (Feb 2014), where framework for scientific plan for Human Vaccines Project was crafted.

• Recommendations from the July workshop included:

  • – Human Vaccines Project should be a global, not for profit public–private partnership, affiliated with a major university/academic center.

  • – The Project should take flexible approach to intellectual property that best fosters the translation of research breakthroughs into tangible public health benefits.

  • – Industry engagement from the outset was essential for long-term success of the Project.

  • – Project should acquire a diversified base of funders.

  • – Project should utilize open access principles to provide data emanating from the Project to the broader scientific community.