European Vaccine Initiative marks 15th anniversary with symposium on global health and diseases of poverty in Heidelberg on 26 February 2013.

Experts representing key stakeholder groups from industry, academia, public health and research institutes, funding bodies and other organisations will gather in Heidelberg on 26 February to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the European Vaccine Initiative (EVI) - Europe´s first Product Development Partnership- with a symposium on global health and diseases of poverty. Renowned speakers from different national and international organisations related to vaccine research and development, global health and international cooperation will present overviews of their current activities and developments in the field.

"EVI is playing an extremely important and effective role as Product Development Partnership in the development of vaccines against diseases of poverty", said Dr. Terry McWade, Deputy Chief Executive of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and current Chair of the EVI Board, "and we are proud that the generous support provided by Irish Aid has contributed to a very significant extent to the achievements made so far."

Initially established in 1998 as EMVI (European Malaria Vaccine Initiative) with seed funding from the European Commission and focusing exclusively on malaria, over the years EVI´s mandate has grown and currently includes other diseases of poverty. In addition to providing financial, operational and managerial support to the development of vaccines against these devastating diseases, EVI´s involvement goes very much beyond the support of scientific-technical activities, and includes support to capacity strengthening, infrastructure initiatives, and advocacy related to the cause.

To date, EVI has supported the development of 29 vaccine preparations, 15 of which have progressed into early clinical development. Three malaria vaccine candidates have been transitioned to partner organisations to undergo mid-stage clinical development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr Odile Leroy, Executive Director of EVI, said that "EVI has grown in strength over the years. Our achievements have only been possible thanks to the unswerving support from our funders, our members and other colleagues and partners, not to mention the dedicated staff at our Secretariat."

EVI's 15th Anniversary Symposium will be organised under the Patronage of the Minister for Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Theresia Bauer. For further information visit www.euvaccine.eu.