european fmd research funding - food and agriculture … · · 2013-05-17european fmd research...

40th General Session of the EuFMD • 22-24 April 2013, Rome (Italy)

European FMD Research Funding

David Paton

Rome April 2013

FP7

Epi-SEQ DISCONVAC


DISCONVAC: Development, enhancement and complementation of animal-sparing, foot-and-mouth disease vaccine-based control strategies for free and endemic regions

1st April 2009 – 31st June 2013

14 partners including vaccine producers from Europe and India and Research

Institutes from China and Argentina

Objectives

(i) improve the quality of existing FMD vaccines and diagnostics,

(ii) refine and replace in vivo vaccine quality tests,

(iii) develop new generation FMD vaccines and diagnostics by cutting edge technology,

(iv) increase/enhance our knowledge on FMDV spread and transmission following the

use of high-potency monovalent or multivalent vaccines in free and endemic settings.


DISCONVAC:

Publications (1)

Interplay of FMDV, antibodies and plasmacytoid dendritic cells: virus opsonization

under nonneutralizing conditions results in enhanced interferon-alpha responses

Interferon-gamma induced by in vitro re-stimulation of CD4-+ T cells correlates with in

vivo FMD vaccine induced protection of cattle against disease and persistent infection.

Characteristics of serology based vaccine potency models for FMDV

Reducing animal experimentation in FMD vaccine potency tests.

Intranasal Delivery of Cationic PLGA Nano/Microparticles-Loaded FMDV DNA Vaccine

Encoding IL-6 Elicited Protective Immunity against FMDV Challenge.


Avidity and subtyping of specific antibodies applied to the indirect assessment of

heterologous protection against FMDV in cattle.

Evaluation of cross-protection between O-Manisa and O-Campos in cattle vaccinated

with different payloads of O-Manisa vaccine.

Development of a FMD infection model in severe combined immunodeficient mice for

the preliminary evaluation of antiviral drugs.

Validation of a recombinant integrinavb6/monoclonal antibody based antigen ELISA

for the diagnosis of FMD.

DISCONVAC:

Publications (2)


1st May 2012 – for 36 months

Internal funding through EMIDA selection system; 6 partners (all European Public

Institutes)

Focus on key diseases caused by RNA viruses (FMDV, AIV, NDV, CSFV) and DNA

viruses (ASFV and exotic poxviruses).

Will exploit advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques that offer

unprecedented increases in the scale of sequence data generated from a sample.

1. How to sequence large collections of viruses to parameterize improved models

that describe viral transmission and outbreak epidemiology.

2. How to conduct deep re-sequencing of viral sequences within single samples to

define the evolutionary dynamics of viruses.

Epi-SEQ


Rapid Field Diagnostic and Screening in Veterinary Medicine

Development of penside tests that can be used to support local decision-making

by animal health practitioners.

Also test formats for use in non-specialised frontline laboratories.

Multiple pathogens

12 partners from 8 different countries: five companies (all SME) and seven

public research organizations.

1st January 2012 – for 36 months

Collaborative Project (Small or medium-scale focused research project targeted

to SMEs)


Follow-on to EMIDA and also utilises national funding

IRAFTOVAC - Anihwa FMD proposal (€ 2.2m), currently under review (decision in May,

for Sep start). 71 other proposals (non-FMD)

7 European partners including one vaccine producer

Aims to:

1. Generate vaccines inducing long term immunity

2. Determine early biomarkers and mechanisms linked to long term immunity

3. Develop novel viral vectored vaccines and VLPs for increasing adaptive and

local immune responses

4. Understand the molecular mechanism of FMDV persistence

5. Develop improved diagnostics to monitor FMDV status


EU FMD Funding from mid-2013

• No FMD-specific funding

• No plans for FMD-specific calls?

• Ongoing funding: – Nationally funded

– Part of multi-pathogen projects

• EPIZONE funding also finished

• Loss of critical mass

• Unfulfilled research requirements

• Need for advocacy


National FMD funding • Solicited information on FMD funding 2010-2014, from 6

countries – UK, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands

• Quite diverse levels of funding for FMD activities – Excluding UK, €0.4m - €1.1m and 1-12 FTE staff

• National funding stagnant or slightly decreased in most cases – Most funds available for Ref Lab functions

– Only 2 countries provide significant amounts of FMD research funding

• Heavy reliance on EC funds for research activities – Reduced funding associated with end of DISCONVAC project


Observations on FMD funding

• Increases in funding after 2001 now draining away

• Lack of research funding is paradoxical when pressing for global FMD control

• Need to create a European fund for FMD research

• Need more cooperation between MS to provide shared functions

• Problem of where next generation of FMD experts will come from


Global FMD Research Alliance (GFRA)

• Expanded membership

• Themed Research meetings

FMD Cross-protection, Vaccine-matching and Vaccine Banks:

Challenges and Opportunities

Buenos Aires, Argentina

June 14-16, 2011

Surveillance, Epidemiology, Vaccination and Control of FMD

Hosted by the ARC-OVI in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

April 17-19, 2012

• Success has led to development of similar networks for PPR and ASF


Isothermal nucleic acid amplification plus LFD read-out

Can detect epithelial and air

samples without RNA

extraction

Similar sensitivity to rRT-PCR

Basis for simple but highly

sensitive field assay

Sensitive and simple penside tests


FMDV Capsid vaccines – safe and stable

Porta et al. (2013) PLoS Pathogens

Stabilised capsids treated 2h at 56ºC (or for 30min at pH5) are intact after sucrose density gradient analysis

“The science behind the new foot-and-mouth disease vaccine

The creation of a new synthetic vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease is a stranger

and more impressive tale than reported in the media”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/


Surveillance and research needs

“Free” countries • Early warning

• Safe trade

• Rapid detection

• Rapid onset vaccines/antivirals

• Safe and storable vaccines

• DIVA vaccines/tests

• Understand epidemiology

• Decision support tools

“Endemic” countries • Monitoring in complex

epidemiological situations

• Simple diagnostics

• Understand epidemiology

• Cheap, stable vaccines that give long-term and broad protection

• Technology transfer


Acknowledgements

Thanks to those who provided funding information

european fmd research funding - food and agriculture … · · 2013-05-17european fmd research...

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