BactiVac, the Bacterial Vaccines Network

Abstract

Bacterial vaccines save lives and constitute a major tool to address the challenge of anti-microbial resistance, though, despite their success, there is a relative paucity of such vaccines. Historically there has not been a network that focuses on bacterial vaccines, to promote sharing of approaches and best practices, and provide advocacy. BactiVac, the Bacterial Vaccines Network, was established in August 2017 to address this gap. Its mission is to advance vaccine development against global bacterial infections in humans and animals, to reduce disease, death, and antimicrobial resistance, and thereby enhance economic development. BactiVac brings together academia, industry, policymakers and funders from high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in a network of 2060 members from 92 countries, including 51 % from LMICs and 15 % from industry. BactiVac supports vaccine development through Catalyst Project Awards and Catalyst Training Awards. This funding targets bottlenecks and capacity-building in vaccinology, particularly among LMIC early-career researchers. Annual Network Meetings facilitate exchange of information and ideas, and new collaborations. We provide advocacy for bacterial vaccines nationally and internationally and, by partnering with aligned networks, function as a network within a network of networks. Therefore, through providing financial support and facilitating collaboration, BactiVac supports and enhances the bacterial vaccinology community to help reduce the devastating burden of disease caused by bacterial infections.