The progress made by PROMISE on RSV research will represent a step forward in the fight against this disease

Overall, the project contributes to:

  • Advance science to make a leap forward in the fight against RSV

  • Prevent severe RSV disease in risk groups

  • Increase our understanding on the impact of COVID-19 on RSV epidemiology

  • Promote RSV awareness and improve confidence in science

  • Reinforce collaboration amongst all actors involved in the fight against RSV disease

  • Strengthen epidemiological and virological surveillance in Europe

  • Assist public health authorities in the development and monitoring of novel immunisations and therapeutics.

Specifically, it will bring tangible benefits to:

Patients

  • Increased awareness to promote empowerment
    Better RSV awareness and knowledge of the disease will help patients and their caregivers make informed decisions about their own health, particularly in vulnerable population groups, e.g., all infants and older adults (65+).

  • Better health
    Improving treatment and preventive strategies will decrease RSV-related outpatient visits, hospitalisations, and mortality.

  • Trust in science
    Efforts to disseminate accurate and accessible information will contribute to increase confidence in RSV immunisation tools.

  • Improved care
    Quality of medical care received during hospitalisation and after discharge will increase.

  • Comprehensive monitoring
    Development of surveillance platforms to promote the generation and utilisation of local/national data to monitor RSV epidemiology, recording genetic and antigenic characteristics and changes of RSV will help understand the impact of RSV on healthcare systems.

    • Evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on RSV epidemiology
    • Better define strategies for immunisation against RSV and inform the value proposition for RSV immunisation tools and antivirals in older adults.
    • Adopt new guidelines for RSV immunisation and incorporate new biomarker-based endpoints for RSV that could be used in clinical trial design. This work will be carried out in collaboration with the health regulatory authorities in the EU to maximise the impact of the results generated.
    • Establish post-marketing effectiveness and safety studies to help inform RSV immunisation policies and therapeutic product guidelines.
    • Identify and monitor seasonal RSV epidemics to inform the effective planning of clinical trials for immunisation tools and therapeutics.
  • Access to new data and advanced knowledge

    Generated scientific outcomes and accessible data will allow healthcare service planners and policy makers to:

Improve quality of healthcare systems by leveraging available data to allow better planning and management of RSV disease.

  • Reinforced collaboration
    The RSV research collaborative approach strengthen by the project will enable a robust RSV surveillance network that it will participate in the dissemination of improved scientific knowledge on respiratory infections in the community.

  • Access to consolidated epidemiological data
    Consolidated data on RSV epidemiology for populations such as babies, young children, pregnant women, and older adults will enhance research and inform treatment strategies.

  • Advanced knowledge
    Some of the remaining knowledge gaps are being addressed by the project, e.g., understanding the association between RSV and asthma in school-age children, strengthening the development of research in microbiome and viral diseases.

  • Informed immunisation and therapeutics development
    Based on validated RSV biomarkers, the global research community can make further progress in the development of novel immunisations and therapeutics, thereby contributing to improved health of populations and patient management.

  • Less pressure on hospitals
    As preventive strategies start to be used, the number of hospital admissions will be reduced.

  • Better care and protection for older adults
    By assessing immunisation strategies and/or therapies among older adults, disease burden in the adult population can be reduced.

  • Framework for immunisation
    By having a framework for immunisation against RSV that also supports the advancement and the post-marketing evaluation of potentially viable products under clinical development, the project contributes to ensure that the public gets access to approved innovative immunisation and therapeutic products within the premise of the jointly supported regulation.

  • Support in post-marketing monitoring
    Established post-marketing effectiveness and safety studies guidelines (design, endpoints etc…) will support monitoring of RSV immunisation and therapeutic products.

  • Improved clinical trial planning
    Identified and monitored seasonal RSV epidemics will contribute to effectively plan and implement clinical trials for immunisation tools and therapeutics.

  • Interaction with regulators and policy makers
    The collaborative framework of this public-private partnership will facilitate regulatory and policy interactions for industry and support the access to market of better and safer immunisation tools for the paediatric and elderly populations.

  • Informed drug development processes
    Newly generated knowledge such as the understanding of the association between RSV and asthma/wheeze or biological markers for further exploration will support the drug development process. This will allow the identification of possible new targets, optimisation of current product pipelines, and continuous interaction with patients.

  • Learning from past experiences
    Assess the cost and risk of development of new immunisation tools to understand the past failures that have prevented an RSV prevention solution from getting to market.