Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "Many people in tropical and developing countries cannot benefit from life-saving vaccines as these vaccines are damaged before they can reach them. The goal of this prize is to galvanise scientists into producing innovations which can solve this global health problem".

Most Europeans are protected from infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and measles thanks to widespread use of vaccination, but many people in tropical and developing countries cannot benefit from these great achievements of medicine. Vaccines are often rendered ineffective by temperature variations in these regions during transport and storage, long before they can be administered. The WHO estimates that half of all supplied vaccine doses are wasted, mostly due to an inadequate "cold chain" to protect them before use.

The use of prizes to encourage scientific breakthroughs could be expanded under Horizon 2020, the EU's funding programme for research and innovation after 2014.

Frequently asked questions on the European Commission's vaccine technology prize are answered here as well as in the document on FAQ (see below).

If you are established as a legal entity in the EU or in a country associated with the 7th Research Framework Programme you can compete for this prize. The competition is open from April 16, 2012 until September 3, 2013. Also, register your interest to participate in the competition ( 438KB) before April 30, 2013.

You can present your application in the way which you consider best satisfies the competition criteria. But you will also need to provide a summary of no more than 20 pages for which a standard template willl be provided soon. Further informations on the Application Process can be found here.

Further information on the prize can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/health/vaccine-prize_en.html

Source: EC DG Research and Innovation News Alert (April 16, 2012), as accessed on April 17, 2012.