In January, the consortium partners of the RBDCOV project met face-to-face for the second time this year at Palau Macaya, in Barcelona. In a hybrid setting, all partners had the opportunity to come together and discuss the progress made in each work package.
Fiona Greenhalgh, EATG team member, presented the different activities that we, together with our CAP (Community Advisory Panel), have been carrying out during the first year of the project. Our main aim remains to make sure that the perspective of the HIV community is taken into account at all stages of clinical development for more inclusive and representative clinical trials. Among the many initiatives to accomplish this goal, we could highlight the creation of inclusive communication guidelines, and the development of the FAQs and an accessible glossary, available in the 4 languages of the RBDCOV project (English, Spanish, Catalan and Turkish).
For 2023, EATG commits to engage with more members and expand the current composition of the CAP, including representatives from other communities and diversifying our input into the RBDCOV project.
As the community partner, trial participant experience is at the centre of our interests. Therefore, EATG will develop and conduct a study looking at the psychosocial factors of participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. Our objective is to ensure that participant experience is documented, understood and the lessons learned can be considered in future research and development projects.
The RBDCOV project has recently launched the HIPRA COVID-19 vaccine trial for people with immunocompromising conditions in Turkey. The clinical trial started after the approval of the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency that took place on the 28th of October. This trial will aim to involve 60 volunteers from three hospitals in Turkey: two in Ankara (Ankara University Medical Faculty Hospitals and Hacettepe University Medical Faculty Hospitals) and one in Istanbul (Koç University Hospital).
In addition, the RBDCOV project partners are currently working on the development of the protocol for the clinical trial with children and adolescents.
RBDCOV is one of 11 selected projects supporting clinical trials for a new vaccine that can go beyond Europe’s borders and create links with other European initiatives in order to effectively respond to the coronavirus crisis and strengthen existing research infrastructures.
The RBDCOV project’s main objective is to test the efficacy, tolerability and safety of the HIPRA’s adjuvanted recombinant protein vaccine against COVID-19 vaccine in children (including adolescents) and people with immunocompromising conditions, a subset of special populations that have been so far excluded from most Phase 3 efficacy vaccine studies.
This project is funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme (2021-2027), Europe’s largest research and innovation programme.
EATG’s main objective as partner of this project is to ensure the accurate and proper representation of the HIV community. The EATG team provides the project with insights and expertise in the following fields: community outreach, communications and advocacy.
Learn more about RBDCOV here!
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