France Vaccins 100 million euro vaccine research programme, Digi Mart USA News (Orléans, France): French Health Minister Stéphanie Rist and Higher Education, Research and Space Minister Philippe Baptiste announced the full deployment of the France Vaccins programme, endowed with 100 million euros under France 2030, during an official visit to Orléans. The announcement was made at the InTheRNA research unit led by professor Chantal Pichon.
The government said the initiative reflects the commitment of President Emmanuel Macron, who made vaccination and vaccine innovation a strategic investment priority starting in 2020, drawing lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme is led by the Health Research Programme Agency (APRS) and operated by the National Research Agency (ANR), complementing the France 2030 Emerging Infectious Diseases and CBRN Threats Acceleration Strategy.
The programme aims to reduce the time between scientific discoveries and first clinical trials by supporting key stages in the development of new vaccines. It also seeks to strengthen collaboration among research bodies, universities, healthcare institutions and industrial players, creating an integrated value chain from basic research to industrialization.
France Vaccins is organized around three structuring components, supported by a governance structure under the APRS that allows agile project management over the programme’s four-year duration.
The technology solutions component is intended to build rapid industrial capacity to respond to new pathogens in under 100 days. At the InTheRNA unit, a joint research unit of Inserm and the University of Orléans based at the Orléans University Hospital, the Technological Research Accelerator for messenger RNA (ART-ARNm) develops design, production and formulation technologies for therapeutic and vaccine RNA.
Chantal Pichon’s team co-leads, with the Vaccine Research Institute, the FAR-M100 (French Accelerator for Rapid mRNA 100-Day) project, one of four technology projects selected under France Vaccins. Funded with 7.7 million euros, the project aims to develop an integrated platform to accelerate the design and preclinical development of mRNA vaccines and therapies, using artificial intelligence and innovative production technologies.
The three other technology projects funded under this component are listed in the source announcement, which also notes that the programme complements the European Vaccine Hub, in which the Institut Pasteur and the CEA already participate.
The programme also launched a call for applications for Senior Chairs in Vaccine Innovation, with a budget of 10 million euros to fund three to four chairs over five years. The chairs are intended to attract internationally renowned researchers based in France or abroad and to position France as a key player in European and international initiatives.
The call complements the Choose France for Science initiative.
Minister Rist said the Covid-19 crisis showed the need to develop safe and effective vaccines quickly, and that France Vaccins aims to strengthen the country’s capacity to anticipate and respond to future health threats. Minister Baptiste said the programme represents a durable investment in research excellence and in turning scientific discoveries into concrete innovations.
