INCENTIVE

Duration

01/01/2020 - 31/12/2025

Coordinator

Carlos Guzman

Funded by

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. H2020-Unión Europea

Website

https://www.incentive-h2020.eu

The highly integrated INCENTIVE consortium represents a genuine partnership between Indian and European/US research groups. It addresses the global health and economic challenge posed by influenza infections, aiming to reduce the worldwide burden caused by outbreaks.

INCENTIVE’s strategic goals are to generate critical knowledge on the mechanisms underlying poor responsiveness to influenza vaccines in vulnerable populations, and to advance the development of two next-generation universal influenza vaccines.

This will be achieved through the following specific objectives:

1. Address knowledge gaps by conducting comprehensive immunome profiling of responders and non-responders to licensed influenza vaccines in infants, children, adults and the elderly. These analyses will be carried out in parallel Phase IV trials in Europe and India, in order to identify the immunological mechanisms of vaccine responsiveness across vulnerable populations and ethnic groups.
2. Advance the development of two next-generation universal vaccines:
   
   • An antigen-presenting cell-targeted nucleic acid vaccine, developed up to proof-of-concept for efficacy in non-human primates.
   
   • A computationally derived second-generation COBRA (Computationally-Optimised Broadly-Reactive Antigens) vaccine, developed up to clinical stage, including a Phase I trial in Europe, a Phase II trial in India, and efficacy studies using an influenza controlled human infection model.
3. Identify predictive biomarkers of vaccine responsiveness to enable the development of novel diagnostics.
4. Implement comprehensive technology transfer and harmonisation activities for immunological analysis and integrated data interpretation.
5. Conduct health systems and investment analyses, including discrete choice experiments, to evaluate the suitability of these technologies for low- and middle-income countries, and to identify potential barriers to adoption within healthcare systems.

Total Funding

9.974.294 €