Date: Monday 29 to Tuesday 30 August 2022
Time: 11:00 to 18:00 CET (Geneva time)
Hybrid Meeting: In-person & Online
The WHO R&D Blueprint organized a consultation to apply scientific lessons learned during the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic and other recent outbreaks to address the research needs for unknown agents capable of future pandemics – Pathogen X.
Main discussion points include the following, with reference to research and development leading to safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics:
Review of previous pandemics with an emphasis on COVID-19
- What relevant scientific information did we have before the pandemic?
- What scientific strategies were successful?
- What scientific strategies could be improved?
What will the next pandemic look like?
- What research will facilitate identification of the next pandemic?
- What needs to be done to prepare for possible pathogens, including unexpected or re-emerging pathogens (e.g., AMR)?
What can be done in advance of the next pandemic?
- What are the scientific and research gaps? And how can they be met?
- How can scientific and research findings facilitate vaccine and therapeutic development?
- How can other approaches, such as TPPs and regulatory convergence, facilitate response to a future pandemic?
PRESENTATIONS:
Session 1. Looking backwards: A tale of outbreaks past (including COVID-19)
- What did we learn? (summarize key learnings from Ebola, SARS, flu, COVID, monkeypox, etc.)
- Relevant knowledge of coronaviruses before the COVID-19 pandemic: virology and vaccines.
- What relevant knowledge did we have before the COVID-19 pandemic?
- COVID-19: What turned out to be the most important research priorities?
- Diagnostic approaches for COVID-19: lessons learned and the path forward (Viral tests [antigens and nucleic acid] and serology).
- How a global forum of scientists working on immune assays supported the development of SARS-CoV-2 medical countermeasures.
- What did we learn about in vitro models for COVID-19 that made a difference?
- Major outcomes of discussions from the COVID-19 Animal models working group.
- Human challenge models – what is needed for them to make a greater contribution?
Session 2. Looking forward: Can someone really predict the future?
- Can we identify pathogens with future pandemic potential?
- Ongoing efforts to identify pathogens that have the greatest pandemic potential?
- Early identification of an outbreak of a novel infectious disease is critical to generating a timely response- but how we can do that?
- Human pathogenic RNA viruses establish noncompeting lineages by occupying independent niches
- Future pandemics might be caused by bacteria and not viruses
- Early warning diagnostics for emerging infectious diseases
- Pathogen discovery and surveillance
- Real-time metagenomic analysis (improvements in genome-sequencing techniques have they made open-ended searches for new pathogens possible?)
- Evolutionary analysis of the dynamics of viral infectious disease – where are we?
Session 3. Identifying overlaps in diagnostic development needs across different priority pathogens
- The importance of diagnostics in epidemics preparedness and response.
- Are crosscutting initiatives the way forward for diagnostics and assays? (What is possible now and what scientific developments are needed?)
- Combatting COVID-19: Advanced nano biosensing platforms for POC global diagnostics and surveillance.
- Transistor sensors for rapid COVID-19 testing.
- Rapid detection of pathogens based on CRISPR/Cas technology.
- Frugal innovations or newly developed products?
- Diagnostics as global good.
- Day 1 - Summary conclusion
Session 4. What are the critical research needs early in an outbreak to pave the way for timely development and evaluation of therapeutics?
- How to better anticipate the desired effect of treatments in a pandemic? (What research data are needed to decide on optimal use of antiviral therapeutics?)
- Can repurposing drugs really help find outbreak treatments faster?
- Accelerating understanding of the clinical course of the disease and opportunities for treatment.
- Antibody-based therapeutics: What criteria for efficacy, and how can they stay relevant if the virus evolves?
- The road to effective and accessible antibody therapies against filoviruses.
- Convalescent Plasma: Therapeutic Clarity, Efficacy & Lessons Learned During the SARS-CoV-2-Pandemic.
- The challenges (and potential solutions) to developing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for outbreaks.
- Post-Pandemic Drug Discovery and Development: Facing Present and Future Challenges.
- Pandemic Preparedness: Acceleration Drug Discovery through Open Science.
- AI-Powered Target Discovery.
- Strengthening the knowledge and evidence base for Anti-Microbial Resistance.
- Strengthening the knowledge and evidence base for Anti-viral Resistance.
Session 5. What are the critical research needs early in an outbreak to pave the way for timely development and evaluation of vaccines?
- How to better anticipate the desired effect of vaccines during outbreaks? (What research data are needed to decide on optimal use of vaccines, not only for COVID, beyond COVID?)
- What are the critical preclinical challenges and how could they be addressed for future candidates before the next pandemic?
- What are the vaccine development innovations being considered?
- How can development of new vaccine platforms, such as mucosal vaccines, be encouraged?
- Plant-based bioproduction platforms: Why development should be encouraged and how.
- Potential for AI to accelerate pandemic vaccine development.
Session 6. How should we prepare for the future?
- The WHO Scientific Advisory Group on the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) An opportunity to better guide studies that specifically investigate high-threat pathogens.
- Unintended consequences: pertussis re-emergence.
- Bacterial evolution & Plague.
- Lessons learned from the Infection Prevention Control Perspective.
- One Health, "Disease X" & the challenge of "Unknown" Unknowns.
- ONE HEALTH – scientific lessons for pandemic prevention.
- Navigating facilitated regulatory pathways during a disease X pandemic.
- What should a pathogen X antiviral TPP look like? – A clinician’s perspective.
- Immunobridging: scientific findings to include importance of different arms of the immune system in protection.
- Developing scientifically appropriate immunobridging criteria.
- Designing trials during outbreaks- what tools we have so far?
- Innovation in vaccine manufacturing process – where are we?
- Learning from collaborative interdisciplinary research on coronavirus for poxvirus epidemic.
- Using “non-changable against changes” strategy to develop pan-CoV vaccines and therapeutics
- Day 2 - Summary conclusion
LIVESTREAM