The Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2) Joint Undertaking mobilises more than € 9 million to support PrIMAVeRa, a new public-private partnership dedicated to harnessing the power of big data and AI to steer the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Antibiotic resistance (AMR) – the ability of microbes to evolve mechanisms that protect them from the drugs designed to kill them – is currently one of the top 10 major threats to human health^[i]. Vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAb) – laboratory-made molecules that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses – can play a vital role in the fight against AMR since they are not subject to the inevitable obsolescence of antimicrobials. Currently, there are no comprehensive data-driven tools to inform decisions about the most efficient use of vaccines and mAbs in combatting AMR. This has discouraged investment in the development of vaccines and mAbs against drug-resistant pathogens, thus increasing the burden of AMR.

PrIMAVeRa is a new European project funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2) with the goal of developing an open-source, web-based platform combining mathematical models with a comprehensive epidemiological repository (i.e., with data referring to health and economic outcomes). This platform will aim to enable policymakers to reach data-driven decisions regarding prioritisation of specific vaccines and mAbs, informing the strategic allocation of limited resources.

“This is a highly innovative project that we hope will highlight the important but often forgotten role that vaccines can play in combatting AMR”, says Ole F. Olesen, Executive Director of the European Vaccine Initiative.

PriMAVeRa involves 19 partners across the EU, the UK and Russia, including 16 academic institutions and SME as well as GSK, Pfizer and Janssen as industry partners. It is coordinated by the European Vaccine Initiative (Germany), with the support of Professor Marc Bonten of the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands) as scientific coordinator, and GSK as the industry lead.

“This is the first multidisciplinary public-private partnership to combine the potentials of mathematical modelling and antibacterial vaccines to fight antimicrobial resistance”, says Professor Marc Bonten of the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands), scientific coordinator of PrIMAVeRa.

“With so many pathogens and infections driving AMR there is a potentially infinite combination of vaccines and mAbs to be developed. As resources are limited, this project will hopefully provide a critical tool to decide which vaccines and monoclonals should be prioritised”, says Dr Venanzio Vella of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, industry leader of PrIMAVeRa.

The following main goals will be addressed by PrIMAVeRa in an integrated manner:

• Assessment of the availability and quality of published data and existing mathematical models of AMR;
• Setting up a comprehensive epidemiological repository;
• Development of improved mathematical models of AMR including cost-effectiveness analyses (CEA);
• Establishment of a plan for evaluation of the models in multi-country settings.

The ultimate goal of PrIMAVeRa is to develop comprehensive mathematical models to predict the impact of vaccines and mAbs on the reduction of AMR, thereby enabling decision-makers to prioritise the most promising new vaccines and mAbs. A sustainability plan will also be designed by the project partners with the goal to ensure long-term access to the project results, including models, beyond the duration of the PrIMAVeRa project. Check the project summary here: www.euvaccine.eu/cross-cutting-activities/primavera.

Quick facts about PrIMAVeRa:

Start Date: 01/11/2021
End Date: 31/10/2026
Coordinator:  European Vaccine Initiative (EVI)
The acronym ‘PrIMAVeRa’ means ‘Predicting the Impact of Monoclonal Antibodies & Vaccines on Antimicrobial Resistance’

This project has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 101034420. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and EFPIA.
www.imi.europa.eu
This communication reflects the author´s view and neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.

^[i] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance