The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota is calling for a new approach to coronavirus vaccine research to help protect against COVID-19 variants and future pandemic threats.

Developed with funding from the Rockefeller and Bill & Melinda Gates foundations, the Coronavirus Vaccines Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap (92 pages, PDF) (CVR), maps global paths to success against future pandemics using protective vaccines. The product of an international collaboration of 50 scientific experts from around the world, the CVR confronts threats of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, and the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants with a detailed, comprehensive, and coordinated plan to accelerate the development of long-lasting, broadly protective coronavirus vaccines capable of preventing severe disease and death, and potentially protecting against infection and transmission.

For example, one approach could involve a stepwise process, starting with vaccines to protect against variants of SARS-CoV-2, while another approach could focus on vaccines capable of protecting against multiple types of coronaviruses, including those likely to spill over from animals to humans in the future. Either way, the CVR emphasizes that broadly protective vaccines must be suitable for all regions worldwide, including remote areas and low- and middle-income countries. With that goal in mind, the report breaks down the work into five topic areas: virology, immunology, vaccinology, animal and human infection models for vaccine research, and policy and financing.

“Time and time again, we have seen that investment in science brings solutions: The COVID-19 pandemic galvanized the research community and advanced vaccine R&D efficiently and through broad collaborations,” said Rockefeller Foundation chief of global public health strategy Bruce Gellin. “The Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap charts a path to aggressively get ahead of new and emerging threats by prioritizing the development of vaccines that provide long-lasting immunity against a broad range of coronaviruses and are equitably available to all.” 

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