Workshop Coordinated Public Funding

On 14 and 15 May 2024, the first workshop on coordinating clinical studies and trials during infectious disease outbreaks was held at the Brussels Convention Centre (Belgium). It was organized by em. Prof. Herman Goossens in the framework of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Prof. Surbhi Malhotra-Kumar, head of LAB-Net, attended this workshop along with 73 delegates from across Europe.

The workshop was quite unique. On the one hand national funding organizations shared their experiences funding clinical studies and trials during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. On the other hand partners of the CoMeCT, ECRAID-Base, ECRAID-PRIME, EU-RESPONSE, PENTA, C4C, and VACCELERATE projects discussed setting up warm-base clinical trial networks. Prof. Malhotra-Kumar presented LAB-Net's concept and capabilities. She highlighted its role as a warm-base network of labs, which aids in achieving quick and consistent study results and fast sample sharing when needed.

Stakeholders showed a strong willingness to collaborate, overcome obstacles, and work towards a coordinated emergency funding system. This is part of a broader strategy to improve pandemic preparedness and response in Europe. In this context, it is interesting to note that HERA will establish a sub-group of its board to advise on the prioritisation of clinical trials and their funding for public health emergencies.. Additionally, various groups are working on creating a central database using best practices and (partly) anonymized patient data. This database can be used for all types of clinical studies. These initiatives will help advance medical research quickly, not just during pandemics.