The latest hantavirus outbreak is forcing Europe to confront an uncomfortable reality: vaccines or treatments against some dangerous viruses may never reach the market. Not because the science is impossible, but because developing them is not commercially attractive for pharmaceutical companies. Brussels is increasingly preparing to fill that gap itself.

“Complacency is not an option. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment against hantaviruses in the EU yet.” With that warning Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, crystallised what is rapidly becoming one of Europe’s emerging preparedness dilemmas.

Some pathogens may be dangerous enough to trigger continent-wide emergency responses, yet too commercially unattractive to fully develop vaccines against them. “Which is why we are actively exploring several avenues to protect citizens against this priority threat,” Commissioner Tzitzikostas told lawmakers during the Thursday plenary debate on the Union’s response to health emergencies.

The debate itself focused largely on emergency coordination, repatriation flights, civil protection mechanisms and lessons learned from COVID-19 following the hantavirus outbreak linked to the expedition vessel MV Hondius.

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But the Commission’s remarks also revealed a broader shift now taking place in Brussels: Europe is increasingly preparing to step into vaccine and countermeasure gaps that markets alone may never solve.

We’ve done the science

Researchers say hantaviruses infect humans relatively infrequently compared with seasonal respiratory viruses or major endemic infectious diseases. While outbreaks can carry high mortality rates, the small number of cases has historically limited the incentive for organisations to invest in expensive vaccine development programmes.

That dynamic has left the global hantavirus vaccine pipeline thin and fragmented despite years of scientific progress.

One leading scientist told Nature that the science itself is no longer the main obstacle. “We’ve done the science,” US virologist Jay Hooper said. “It’s just other forces that are required to move vaccines forward — markets, government.”

EU preparedness architecture

Mr Tzitzikostas made clear that the Commission no longer sees hantavirus purely as an isolated zoonotic incident, but as part of Europe’s broader health emergency preparedness planning. “Through our medical countermeasure strategy and the Horizon Europe programme, we are advancing promising candidate vaccines and therapeutics against hantaviruses,” he told lawmakers.

He also mentioned that hantaviruses were formally included in the Commission’s Comprehensive Health Threat Prioritisation Assessment adopted earlier this year.

Concurrent outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola serve as stark reminders that the gap between the threats we face and our readiness to meet them remains dangerously wide. — Richard Hatchett, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations

The Commissioner further linked the response to Europe’s regulatory and research infrastructure. “We are also in very close cooperation with the European Medicine Agency, consulting member states on their current access to treatments and to their supply needs,” he added.

Importantly, Mr Tzitzikostas also pointed toward the role of publicly funded research ecosystems in filling gaps left by weak commercial incentives. “We are also deploying dedicated instruments to reinforce the research system needed under any health emergency,” he said. “Including for research on this very recent outbreak.”

He specifically highlighted Europe’s clinical trial and research coordination structures. “Now, in the field of clinical trials, the BE READY partnerships enable exchange within the rich research and innovation ecosystem, including networks of research sites and infrastructures,” he said.

Taken together, the remarks suggest the Commission increasingly views preparedness for pathogens such as hantavirus as dependent not only on emergency response mechanisms, but also on long-term publicly supported research capacity that can sustain vaccine and therapeutic development even when traditional market incentives remain weak.

Public investment fills the gap

The comments come only days after the EU announced a €73.7 million commitment through Horizon Europe to support the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is developing rapid-response vaccine capabilities for emerging pathogens.

In announcing the funding, CEPI explicitly referenced concurrent hantavirus outbreaks as evidence that preparedness investments cannot wait until pathogens become commercially attractive. “Concurrent outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola caused by Bundibugyo virus serve as stark reminders that the gap between the threats we face and our readiness to meet them remains dangerously wide,” CEPI Chief Executive Richard Hatchett said.

The organisation’s broader “100 Days Mission” aims to develop vaccines within 100 days of identifying a future pandemic threat.

Ebola warning reinforces preparedness message

The hantavirus debate quickly expanded into a broader discussion about Europe’s readiness for simultaneous global outbreaks. Mr Tzitzikostas warned lawmakers that the EU is already monitoring another escalating health emergency alongside the MV Hondius case.

Complacency is not an option. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment against hantaviruses in the EU yet. — Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism

“On Sunday, the World Health Organisation declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda as a public health emergency of international concern,” he said. The Commission, he added, is already coordinating with the WHO, Africa CDC and member states while assessing available medical countermeasures.

“In a situation where we are also facing an Ebola outbreak at the same time, it is essential to stay vigilant and to make full use of our health security framework and the health emergency response capacities at our disposal,” he said. The Ebola reference reinforced one of the Commission’s central political messages throughout the debate: preparedness can no longer focus on single crises in isolation.

Beyond the COVID model

The hantavirus discussion highlights how Europe’s preparedness debate is gradually shifting beyond the COVID-19 model. During the pandemic, vaccine development rapidly became commercially viable because of enormous global demand.

Hantavirus presents a different challenge entirely: a dangerous zoonotic threat with potentially serious consequences, but limited market incentives. That creates a growing role for public investment, strategic preparedness funding and international coordination mechanisms.

Several lawmakers used the debate to argue for stronger long-term health security investment and reinforced European coordination structures.

Still, the Commission repeatedly returned to one core message: Europe cannot wait for the next major outbreak before building the systems needed to respond. “The global health threats landscape is dire,” Mr Tzitzikostas emphasised. “Recent outbreaks, including the ongoing outbreak of Ebola, are clear reminders of the need to continue to strengthen our health preparedness.”