Structure of the IFPMA IVS Task Force

 

The IFPMA IVS Task Force is lead by a Core team and two working groups: SPR (Scientific, Production and Regulatory) and PPC (Policy, Practice and Communication). The Core team is comprised of a Chairman, Scientific Coordinator, Policy Coordinator, Treasurer and Secretariat.

The Chairman reports regularly to the IFPMA Vaccines Committee regarding IVS actions and decisions. The Secretariat is always an IFPMA staff member.

 

 Current Core Team members are:

 

The SPR Working Group focuses on issues related to the development, testing, manufacture and licensing of both seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines.

The group has been actively working on these technical and scientific issues in close collaboration with WHO, national and international agencies.

Meanwhile the PPC Working Group focuses on issues relating to influenza vaccination policies, the way they are implemented, and advocacy and communication of the public health and societal value of influenza vaccination. It has assisted in providing data on influenza vaccine distribution throughout the world, and has supported large health economic studies to evaluate the effects of lowering the vaccination age from 65 to 50 year olds (see the summary paper in Task Force’s Insight section).

 

Legal Issues:

Many of the scientific, production, regulatory, public policy, practice and communication issues outlined above involve proprietary issues, intellectual property, confidentiality agreements and business regulations regarding competition policy, cartel formation and restraint of trade. In order for influenza vaccine manufacturers to work together, the boundaries for what activities are and are not allowed are clearly defined and cleared not only by the legal department of each member but also by an independent legal council. Therefore, IVS Task Force operates under the international anti-trust law and their meetings are held with a presence of an independent legal council.