TargetFish industry forum on DNA vaccination : where do we stand and what’s next? : Workshop

Maybe most characteristic of the TargetFish1 project, which kicked off some five years ago with 30 partners from 10 EU member states, two associated countries (Norway, Israel) and one international cooperation partner country (Chile), has been the close cooperation between research groups and enterprises; more or less equally represented in this large consortium. In this respect, TargetFish has been revolutionary validating by this close cooperation fundamental knowledge for the development of next generation vaccines and different routes of vaccine administration. TargetFish had the ambition to demonstrate market applicability of improved vaccines or new prototype vaccines that would come forward from the project. Via frequent joint meetings of its partners, be it research group or enterprise, TargetFish aimed to drive vaccine development in an industrial applicable way. This could facilitate adoption of new intellectual property and stimulate the presentation of new fish vaccines on the market. The industry forum has been a platform for a continuing validation of the applied potential of the research outcomes. Workshops were organised at the different EAFP meetings to communicate the validation process to those not directly involved with the project but interested in the fish vaccine market. After a kick-off meeting during the EAFP in Tampere, Finland fours years ago and a second meeting at the EAFP in Las Palmas, Spain, two years ago, at the present EAFP in Belfast, Northern Ireland a final meeting was organised. This report is a summary of the ‘Industrial Forum workshop’ held at the EAFP in Belfast 2017 and provides a short overview of the highlights presented to, and discussed with, those present and interested in DNA vaccine development, policies and laws, production and delivery routes.