In January 2022 Ecraid became a legal entity and is now fully operational to advance knowledge in the field of infectious diseases. This is Ecraid’s initial step as it evolves into a self-sustaining, not-for-profit organisation conducting clinical research for both public and private sponsors. UMC Utrecht is one of 18 partners within Ecraid and is responsible for the hospital network, which consists of more than 1,000 hospital sites in over 40 European countries. The network has its origins in COMBACTE’s clinical network: CLIN-Net. Professor of molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases at UMC Utrecht Marc Bonten has been appointed as CEO of Ecraid.
The expertise required to clinically evaluate new diagnostics, treatments, vaccines and other preventive and/or therapeutic interventions is not confined to a single institute or country. In fact, a lack of international collaboration and solidarity leads to fragmentation and isolation of research efforts, inefficient use of scarce research resources and suboptimal impact on the combat of infectious diseases. Ecraid will remedy this issue.
Thanks to funding by the European Commission and the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) in recent years, the Ecraid network is able to conduct clinical research in reduced time, for reduced cost and of high quality. Ecraid’s clinical research network encompasses more than 2,000 sites in 40+ European countries. It includes primary care settings (general practitioners), hospital settings (emergency rooms and intensive care units), paediatric care settings, clinical laboratories, and long-term care facilities.
“This is an historical opportunity to amplify the public and private resources already invested in Europe to build sustainable clinical trial networks. Ecraid will enhance the effectiveness of clinical trials, in order to scientifically demonstrate the optimal care for patients with infections, either caused by emerging pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, or microorganisms no longer susceptible to current treatment, such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria” Marc Bonten, CEO of Ecraid and Professor of molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases at University Medical Center, Utrecht (the Netherlands).
The network will provide an efficient European infrastructure capable of performing all aspects of clinical studies from design to dissemination. It will function as the backbone of clinical research activity in the field of infectious diseases led by world-leading experts. Key design principles built into the network’s organisation and operations will ensure the delivery of rapid and coordinated research responses to public health emergencies that represent an imminent or immediate threat to the health and security of people living in Europe.
