Japan, EU to Cooperate in Vaccine Development; Partnership Agreement to Increase Preparedness for Possible Future Pandemics

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:00 JST, October 28, 2023

The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) agreed Friday to cooperate in the development of vaccines and medicines to prepare for possible future pandemics.

HERA is a department of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, created amid the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2021, to rapidly respond to health emergencies. The Strategic Center of Biomedical Advanced Vaccine Research and Development for Preparedness and Response (SCARDA) was established within AMED in March 2022 to lead vaccine development in Japan and HERA asked AMED to work together in this field.

Specifically, the two organizations will have regular meetings about the medicines and vaccines for infectious diseases under development that Japan and the EU are investing in. They will also promote joint research on potential pandemic pathogens which Japan and the EU are monitoring.

On Friday, a signing ceremony for the agreement was held online. Laurent Muschel, acting director-general of HERA, expressed his expectations that they would strengthen global health security initiatives. Yoshinao Mishima, president of AMED, said, “The partnership is of great significance to respond to emergencies beyond national borders.”