18 MEPs from various political groups (EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, ID, Greens/EFA, GUE/NGL) called on Monday 6 April for the European authorities to speed up the process of developing vaccines and treatments against COVID-19.
In a joint letter to Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation and Youth, and Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health, and the Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Guido Rasi, MEPs call for the use of "new methods and technologies".
They consider it unlikely that a vaccine can be placed on the market before next autumn - as the Commission states - "if traditional approaches are to be applied".
"As they normally entail a lengthy animal testing phase before clinical trials can start on humans", the signatories point out.
They note that, given the urgency of the situation, "authoritative voices in the scientific community" are calling for new approaches and, where possible, for trials of vaccines and medicines directly on humans.
MEPs call for the use of artificial intelligence, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), in vitro and in silico modelling methods, and high-throughput screening, believing that these technologies and methods would make it possible to carry out safe clinical trials in a shorter timeframe.
"Using high throughput screening methods, for example, could rapidly qualify or disqualify any drugs candidates or facilitate repurposing of approved therapeutics in treating patients with the COVID-19", the letter states.
Finally, the 18 signatories call on European leaders to "adopt the necessary changes to the current regulatory framework and scientific guidelines" to ensure that these methods can be used fully and as a matter of priority.
To read the letter: https://bit.ly/3aSCsGH (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)