The concept of ‘platform approaches’ and ‘prior knowledge’ gained widespread prominence after the COVID-19 pandemic, where platform approaches supported the rapid development and approval of COVID-19 vaccines. Since then, multiple regulatory initiatives have been taken to optimise their implementation in drug development, including the set-up of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Platform Technology Designation Program. Although ‘platform approaches’ and ‘prior knowledge’ are usually associated with marketing authorisation applications, this article will discuss how the same principles can be implemented in the early development of vaccines and accelerate their time to market.
