After a promising start with the episode on rare diseases, in the second episode of our podcast series Innovation & Affordability we dive hand-in-hand into the topic of infectious diseases, a field where innovation is vital but investment often fails to materialise.

In this episode, we talk to Natalie Mazur and Robert Sauerwein, both associated with the FAST hub InFECT-NL. Natalie is liaison from UMC Utrecht and Robert is chair of the board of InFECT-NL and Marina Senten of Samenwerking Infectieziekten (Infectious Diseases Collaboration), an alliance of from the Cooperating Health Funds (SGF) that aims to reduce the societal and personal impact of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Together, they share their insights on the challenges as well as opportunities within the development of vaccines against infectious diseases.

Vaccines: essential, but undervalued

The corona pandemic showed how crucial vaccines are and how quickly investments do get made when the urgency is high. But outside pandemics, interest from industry often remains limited. Yet infectious diseases are a major threat worldwide, especially for vulnerable groups such as young children. Natalie Mazur talks about her team’s work on a vaccine against RS virus (RSV) the most common cause of respiratory infections in young children. Thanks to new models and technologies, vaccine development today can be smarter, faster and more efficient. But how do we ensure that these innovations also remain affordable?

Smarter, faster, cheaper?

Following on from this episode, we also recommend Hanneke Schuitemaker’s column: ‘Development of vaccines against infectious diseases: can it be smarter, faster and cheaper?‘ In it, she reflects on the need for innovation in a field where the social value is high but the economic incentive is often lacking.

Listen to the episode now via fast.nl or your favourite podcast channel and find out how FAST is working with InFECT-NL towards a future where innovation and affordability go hand in hand also in infectious diseases.