Joint statement: EVI - BCF sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

EVI and BCF recognise the benefits of enhanced collaboration and joint programming on several levels. This proposed collaboration between EVI and the BCF could guide the development and implementation of global safety standards in pre-licensure clinical trials and accelerate access to vaccines with important public health impact.

For several years, EVI and BCF have been exchanging information, and specifically collaborated as partners in EURHAVAC and INYVAX, projects funded by the European Commission and coordinated by EVI, part of which aims to develop effective tools for the assessment of vaccine safety in developed and resource limited countries.  With the signing of this MoU, EVI and BCF seek to extend the existing interaction on a more formal basis and explore possibilities for joint-programming.

"It will be exciting to intensify the collaboration between EVI and BCF", said Jan Bonhoeffer, President of BCF. "Together, we will specifically contribute to accelerating access to safe and effective vaccines against poverty related diseases. Our shared resources can be utilized to develop candidates and transfer knowledge and technical expertise to low and low-middle countries, where vaccines are increasingly being developed."

Especially pleased about this new development, the Executive Director of EVI, Odile Leroy said that "The strengthening of the collaboration between the two organisations is an important step in addressing the fragmentation of the vaccine research and development in Europe and developing countries, and will largely contribute to the implementation of high quality standards in vaccine safety assessment."

BCF is a non-profit partnership with the mission to serve people and institutions concerned with vaccine safety by conducting and promoting high quality research.  The methodological standards developed or adopted by the Brighton Collaboration are recognized and recommended for use by international regulatory authorities and public health agencies including the World Health Organization – Council for International Organisations of Medical Sciences (WHO-CIOMS), Centres for Disease Control (CDC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), US-Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The electronic tools and infrastructure developed and utilized with partners in the frame of the European Vaccine Adverse Event Surveillance and Communication (VAESCO) project have become a reference for international post licensure vaccine safety research based on distributed data models.

EVI is a non-profit European Economic Interest Grouping that aims to provide a mechanism through which the development of vaccines for diseases of poverty can be accelerated within Europe and in developing countries. EVI facilitates and contributes financially and technically to nationally and internationally funded vaccine research and development.

For more information please contact:

BCF, Jan Bonhoeffer, President, j [dot] bonhoeffer [at] brightoncollaboration [dot] org

EVI, Odile Leroy, Executive Director, odile [dot] leroy [at] euvaccine [dot] eu