Nordic HIV Vaccine Experts Work Together in EUREKA Project
The Nordic HIV vaccine experts jointly announced their participation in a new EUREKA project. The aim of the project is to join the Nordic forces in order to develop a therapeutic HIV vaccine. EUREKA is an European wide network for industrial research and development. EUREKA aims at strengthening European competitiveness by promoting 'market-driven' collaborative R&D, involving industry and research institutes across Europe, using advanced technologies resulting in cost-effective products, processes and services.
The participants in the E!3421 HIV vaccine project are: FIT Biotech (Finland), Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control & Karolinska Institute (Sweden), Vecura at Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge (Sweden) and SBL Vaccines (Sweden). The participants will jointly develop and test therapeutic HIV vaccine candidates in phase I/II studies.
There will be a specific focus on developing countries. "Joining of the forces now working for the development of an HIV vaccine in the Nordic region will certainly strengthen the possibilities to reach our goal" says Professor Kai Krohn, the coordinator of the Eureka project and Chief Scientific Officer at FIT Biotech.
"This is a great endeavour", says Professor Britta Wahren from Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control & Karolinska Institute, "It will make our countries collaborate better against the terrible spread of HIV infection."
"This Nordic alliance will be of great importance for development of this novel therapeutic area and will facilitate the transfer from clinical research to clinical practice" says Dr Pontus Blomberg, from Vecura. Björn Sjöstrand, CEO of SBL Vaccines says: "Today, over 40 million people are affected by HIV and we see no end to this global scourge. The way forward is to combine academic research with industrial development competence in a joint effort to develop an effective vaccine against this disease."
"FIT Biotech is excited about the collaboration and the opportunity to test the therapeutic efficacy of its vaccine candidate. The clinical study will be of pivotal importance for the development of a new class of therapy against HIV" according to Kalevi Reijonen, CEO of FIT Biotech.
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