CIDRAP Launches Revamped Coronavirus Vaccine Roadmap Initiative Site to Advance Global Coordination of Vaccine R&D

The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) today announced the launch of a new Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap (CVR) Initiative digital home, a global, open-access platform designed to track scientific progress toward the development of broadly protective coronavirus vaccines.

Created in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the CVR Initiative website transforms CIDRAP’s Coronavirus Vaccines Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap into a dynamic, continuously updated resource for researchers, policymakers and funders. The roadmap — originally launched in 2023 with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation — outlines key goals and milestones to guide global coronavirus vaccine R&D. With CEPI’s investment, and in collaboration with 50 scientific experts from around the world, the new initiative serves to monitor progress in these priority research areas and further catalyze coronavirus vaccine development critical for future preparedness and response.  

The new site hosts three integrated components:

• Coronavirus Vaccine Technology Landscape: a curated, continually updated database of coronavirus vaccines in preclinical and clinical development, including broadly protective, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS vaccine candidates.
• R&D Progress Tracker: an interactive tool that monitors scientific advances and reports progress toward achieving the roadmap’s defined goals and milestones according to five major topic areas: virology, immunology, vaccinology, animal and human infection models, and policy and financing.
• CVR Scholar Hub: an online resource center featuring literature reviews, data syntheses and other materials supporting researchers in coronavirus vaccine development.

“The launch of this new digital home marks an important next step for the roadmap and for the broader vaccine research community,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, Regents Professor and Director of CIDRAP. “We now have a centralized, open-access resource that allows scientists, funders and policymakers to see in real time where progress is being made and where critical gaps remain. Our goal is to turn information into actions — accelerating discovery, collaboration and preparedness for the next coronavirus threat.”

Coronaviruses have caused three major outbreaks in the past two decades — SARS, MERS and COVID-19 — and remain among the top pandemic threats identified by the World Health Organization.

Modelling research funded by CEPI and published this month in Nature Communications found that broadly protective coronavirus vaccines could reduce the number of deaths and ease the burden on health systems in a future coronavirus pandemic when produced and stockpiled in advance of an outbreak. 

“Knowledge is power when preparing for pandemic threats, so the more scientific information on coronaviruses we can develop and make accessible for researchers and policymakers worldwide, the stronger our defences when the next coronavirus rears its ugly head," said Dr. Nadia Cohen, CEPI’s Coronavirus Vaccine Programme Lead. “By investing in the Coronavirus Vaccine Roadmap and supporting the creation of this new site, we have a comprehensive outlook into new research that will guide investments by CEPI and other funders to prevent another COVID-19 like pandemic.”

The Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap Initiative website and associated resources are freely available at cvr.cidrap.umn.edu.

About the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
CIDRAP is a global leader in addressing public health preparedness and emerging infectious disease response. In 2021, CIDRAP released the Influenza Vaccines R&D Roadmap, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and developed with a group of international partners, to accelerate the development of improved seasonal influenza vaccines and the generation of broadly protective or universal influenza vaccines that could mitigate the impact of future influenza pandemics. CIDRAP has also generated for the World Health Organization roadmaps for medical countermeasures against Ebola/Marburg, Lassa, Nipah, and Zika viruses. Founded in 2001, CIDRAP is part of the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota.