Biography: Bram Palache
Following the completion of his Master degree in Biochemistry from the University of Amsterdam (1980), Bram Palache started to work as Clinical Research Associate at a Dutch Pharmaceutical company. After being appointed as clinical group leader at the Clinical Research Department, he took responsibility for the early phases of clinical development of different products.
From 1984 onwards, he was responsible for the annual clinical studies with updated influenza vaccines. Because of the specific complexities of influenza clinical research and the irrational differences in influenza prevention policies in the world, Palache decided to dedicate his professional efforts exclusively to the control of influenza. In 1991, he received his PhD degree at the department of Virology of the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (Prof. N. Masurel).
In 1992, Professor Claude Hannoun (Pasteur Institute, Paris, France) and Bram Palache took the initiative for an informal European forum of influenza experts, which became the European Scientific Working group on Influenza (ESWI; 1993; www.eswi.org ). This organisation represents a transparent public-private partnership where independent influenza experts and industry work together to improve the prevention of influenza and therefore reduce the huge burden of this contagious disease by reducing complications, hospitalisations and deaths which occur each and every year.
In the early 90’s, Palache was involved in the company’s decision to investigate and develop an innovative production technology for the production of influenza vaccines. After the pre-clinical development phase, he took leadership of the clinical development program. In 1997, the promising results of the first-ever clinical studies with a cell-cultured influenza vaccine in man, were published.
After the observed cases of human infections with deadly avian influenza virus in Hong Kong, China (1997 – 2002), Palache joined a group of industrial colleagues to initiate the Influenza Vaccine Supply International Task Force to investigate and prepare a response to this global threat of a potentially emerging next influenza pandemic. This industrial group (www.ifpma.org/influenza/ ).has collaborated with WHO and other international- and national Health Authorities to the R&D of pandemic vaccines in the period 2002-2010).
Only due to this global collaboration and coordination between industry and Health Authorities, vaccines against the H1N1 pandemic virus could be produced and made available soon after the start of the declared H1N1 pandemic on June 11th, 2009. This historical fact has not really been appreciated publicly, due to the specific circumstances, nature and communications around the H1N1 pandemic.
Today, Palache is working at the Global Government Affaires Department of his company. In this function he works together with governments, policy makers and experts to develop strategies to further strengthen the efforts to increase both, the prevention of seasonal influenza as well as improve the global preparedness for a next influenza pandemic. It is unpredictable when a next pandemic will occur. Palache says "influenza pandemics have occurred throughout history and will occur in the future. We better be prepared!"