RAPID Lower Saxony: Fast-tracking Pandemic Prevention

Schriftzug RAPID Niedersachsen

Photo: HZI | Verena Meier

“The COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, nor will it be the last pandemic. Increasing globalisation increases the likelihood of viruses finding their way from the animal kingdom to humans and spreading throughout the population. We must prepare today so disease and death can be prevented more efficiently in the future. This is why I support the RAPID Lower Saxony initiative.”

Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann, virologist and member of the Corona Expert* Council of the state and the federal government.

Pandemic events are likely to occur in increasingly rapid succession. Better preparation against life-threatening viruses in the future is essential. Lower Saxony has internationally recognised scientific capabilities to efficiently counter pandemic threats. The outstanding research strength of Lower Saxony has been proven by various Corona projects funded by the state, federal government and the EU. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has also shown that competencies at state level have not yet been optimally exploited, especially in the context of translational projects. Actors in the field of drug development are not intensively networked in Lower Saxony and consequently unable to quickly implement targeted innovative concepts.

The initiative “Response Against Pandemic Infectious Diseases (RAPID) Lower Saxony” can successfully establish a faster and more efficient approach. The first essential building block of the project is a strong, interdisciplinary
network of all regional key players from science, industry, healthcare and the public sector. Establishing a powerful network before the next pandemic will make it possible to optimise the translation of the excellent research and development in Lower Saxony and generate innovative solutions for pandemic prevention/response and drug development in general. Experience made during the Corona pandemic and many years of translation in the life science sector have highlighted the need to optimise administrative and procedural framework conditions. The goal of RAPID Lower Saxony is to improve these processes and eliminate organisational bottlenecks. In this way, Lower Saxony intends to establish itself as a special competence centre for multidisciplinary work in pandemic prevention.

If you have something to offer in the fight against pandemics in the scientific field or related infrastructures in Lower Saxony, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Image by Tanja Föhr

Working together for a more effective pandemic response

The first RAPID Lower Saxony workshop took place in Hannover on 17 May 2022 as part of the “Pandemic Prevention Campaigns (PaPräKa)“. Numerous stakeholders from universities, research institutions, authorities and pharmaceutical industry in Lower Saxony were joined by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economics, Labour, Transport and Digitalisation and the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. Keynote speeches were given by Prof. Dr. Stefan Dübel (TU Braunschweig), Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann (TU Braunschweig) and Prof. Dr. Nils Hoppe (Leibniz Universität Hannover). Critical bottlenecks in drug development against pandemic viruses were identified and pragmatic proposals for action in the future were also discussed.

Optimisation of administrative framework conditions

In addition to scientific excellence, non-scientific framework conditions also need to be optimised in order to be better prepared for future pandemic threats. The following critical bottlenecks in drug development in the event of a crisis have been identified:

long processing times for ethics applications in pre-clinical studies
legal formalities (material transfer agreements, non-disclosure agreements, etc.)
complicated IP transfer and lengthy licensing negotiations
slow approval processes
duplication of efforts due to uncoordinated communication between stakeholders
insufficient knowledge transfer
slow release of resources
insufficient integration of existing infrastructure

The cost of eliminating these organisational bottlenecks is marginal compared to the cost of the Corona pandemic. This also applies to establishing a long-term, interdisciplinary and continuously maintained framework for cooperation. Measures at the state, federal and EU levels should also be initiated based on the concepts and preliminary work of RAPID Lower Saxony in relation to networking and knowledge transfer and recommendations for action still to be developed with all stakeholders.

Pandemic prevention with long-lasting value

The findings and proposals for improving the response to pandemics are also useful in other areas. They facilitate high-tech spin-offs in all research fields, accelerate internationally competitive research projects in all areas of biomedical research at universities in Lower Saxony, and also help to improve the management of pandemic disaster situations in areas outside drug development.

Background

RAPID Lower Saxony is an initiative of the Life Science Startup Board Lower Saxony which is staffed with leading life science startup founders from the scientific community in Lower Saxony.