PREPARE

A key lesson from a series of recent epidemics of emerging pathogens of global public health importance was that implementing clinical research in response to a rapidly emerging infectious disease is extremely challenging and often delayed. We currently do not have European framework for ensuring that clinical research is built into epidemic responses and in fact our present research culture often precludes a rapid clinical response. Because of this, clinical research studies generally miss the initial waves of an epidemic or pandemic and in many cases fail to enrol significant numbers of patients across the clinical spectrum of disease, even during subsequent waves.

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What is PREPARE?


PREPARE is a EU funded network for harmonized large-scale clinical research studies on infectious diseases (IDs), prepared to rapidly respond to any severe ID outbreak, providing real-time evidence for clinical management of patients and for informing public health responses.

Penta is the paediatric partner in this network and coordinates a paediatric trial on community acquired sepsis-like syndrome and acute respiratory tract infection in childhood (PED MERMAIDS).

Why is PREPARE needed?


In almost all epidemics over the last decades very little research directly aimed at improving clinical management or understanding pathogenesis has been able to be conducted. PREPARE has been designed to change the approach to clinical research, so a next epidemic will not result in a missed opportunity to save lives and advance medical knowledge.

What is PREPARE’s goal?


PREPARE will establish a common European clinical research infrastructure covering over 600 primary care sites and over 600 hospital sites in 27 EU member States. ‘Inter-epidemic’ studies will train PREPARE in mounting a rapid, coordinated deployment of Europe’s clinical investigators, within 48 hours of a severe outbreak. As such, PREPARE aims to be at the basis of establishing a paradigm shift in clinical research in response to severe ID outbreaks.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No. 602525.