EU Backs 125 Biomed Research Projects

The European Commission has allocated 87.4 million Ecu ($106.8 million)for 125 biomedical research projects into new therapies for AIDS, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease, in the second phase of its Biomedicine and Health Research Program.

Other projects involve transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, pharmaceutical research into in vitro tests to replace laboratory animals, susceptibility to neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders and links to the Human Genome Project. The Commission says industrial participation has been high, especially in drug research (15 companies with nine approved projects) and biomedical engineering.

This phase of the program includes a large number of projects for human vaccine development. Problems with developing an HIV vaccine have encouraged new approaches, including work on mucosal immunity. Three related projects have been approved, one exploring nucleic acid vaccination, one using several sub-unit vaccines in an attenuated vaccinia vector and a third investigating mucosal immunization via the iliac lymph node, using plant-based vaccines to obtain a cost-effective product.