EVAg

Originally funded in 2009, the European Virus Archive goes Global (EVAg) is a non-profit infrastructure dedicated to the conservation, production and distribution of viruses and derived products, as well as services ensuring:

that materials are supplied non-profitably or at cost to all bona fide applicants,

that the biosecurity of virus producers, users and the general public is paramount,

that the available materials meet the highest scientific standards in terms of quality and characterization.

EVAg is an infrastructure project financed by the European Commission, working as a consortium of 26 laboratories (16 European, and 10 non-European) and 20 associated partners.

We already have a large panel of viruses and derived products available on our web based catalogue (EVAg Portal).

The EVAg missons are to collect, amplify, characterize, standardize and authenticate viruses to develop and maintain the largest active globally accessible virus archive

The EVAg infrastructure will also facilitate easy access to viruses and critical derived products and services for the benefit of science, medicine, industry and public health

The EVAg collection of viruses, derived materials and services operates through a virtual infrastructure based on a website and a web-based catalogue. To date, we have more than 800 products and more to come in the future. To ensure the best quality, we have defined and established a set of best practice quality guidelines adopted by the consortium partner collections to guarantee the supply of authenticated and quality controlled resources to users and harmonised service levels across the consortium.

More than 2000 products have been distributed worldwide.

More than 100 peer-reviewed publications have acknowledged EVA.

Active actor, under the WHO umbrella, during some of the last virus outbreaks: MERS-CoV, Ebola

Today among the largest active virtual virus collection worldwide...Visit our Portal!

EVA GLOBAL contributions and work in the context of ABS during the COVID19 pandemic has been highlighted in our 2021 Lancet Microbe publication. By June 2021, EVA had distributed more than 2300 products to 109 countries ( list countries here* ) and continues to support pathogen research during pandemic and inter-pandemic times.

We believe that ‘together we are stronger‘, especially during these times of global urgency and are pleased that international cooperation has led to a silver lining and spirit of teamwork around the world. Here is a letter from the Government of Guatemala that exemplifies this cooperation.

The consortium is also actively engaged with capacity building in collections in countries with less developed economies where viral outbreaks have a particularly acute and devastating role. The consortium is extending its network to countries where virus biobanking is poorly developed and to Developing Countries (DC), by association with institutes to help them start, develop and maintain a virus collection. There is a mutual benefit in this objective as independence of each endemic country for the control of emerging viral disease relies on its capacity to access to viral strains, but also to viral sequence, to rapidly design efficient diagnostic tools, and to have access to reference material, to assess their diagnostic and surveillance capacities or to develop research program in biology and control of infectious diseases, etc. Providing this capacity to those institutes will constitute a shared benefit. It will also help towards the creation of an adequate work environment for local scientists to perform research in their own countries. For EVA-GLOBAL, the goal is to extend the diversity of the resource offered in our catalogue by integration of new institutes from countries where major virus outbreaks already occurred and in those where the probability of emergence is high.

An EVAg account is required to place an enquiry about products of interest. To create an account with EVAg, follow these steps:

Click the link ‘Login / Register’

Click on the tab ‘Create new account’

Complete the fields marked with a red asterisk, then click the ‘Create new account’ button

You will receive an email containing a one-use link to activate your account. Follow the link to log in, then add and confirm your password. Be sure to click ‘Save’ once your password is added.

The Portal link on the home page will take you to the catalogue. There are two ways to find products in our catalogue that can be used in combination:

You can search by keyword and/or ICTV taxonomic term. When you start typing an ICTV taxonomic term a list of potential matches will appear and you can select from these to make your query.

You can use the filters on the right hand side of the Portal to browse through the products by category. The filters can also be applied to the result page of a search by keyword/ ICTV.

To place an enquiry, and receive a quote, first create an EVAg account or log in. Then simply add the product(s) you are interested in to your enquiry cart, validate your enquiry, and complete the enquiry form. We will then send you a quote for the products and shipping.

You will need an EVAg account to order products from the catalogue. First, use our web portal to place an online enquiry on the EVAg website and receive a quote. Your enquiry will become an order when the quote is accepted and a Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) between you and the partner installation is signed.
Please note that all enquiries are evaluated in terms of Biosafety, and as a consequence, please start to gather an official (signed and stamped) end-user qualification form of your laboratory to receive and handle the products of your interest.

Simply ask us! One of the most interesting features of EVAg's catalogue is its flexibility, please do not hesitate to contact us by using our contact form here. We have in the past added to the catalog tailor-made products on demand, as well as access to plateforms, or services. With the large panel of virology laboratories in our consortium, there are good chances that we would have what you are looking for.

All the products in our catalogue are available for orders. To make an order, and receive a quote, follow these three steps:

1. Create an account on the EVA website,

2. Add the product of your choice to your cart, describing precisely the scope of use in the technical annex

3. Place an enquiry by clicking on the sending button.

It will forward your request to the partner of the consortium, who will be able to send you the quote.

Nonetheless, all enquiries are evaluated in terms of Biosafety, and as a consequence, please start to gather an official (signed and stamped) end-user qualification form of your laboratory to receive and handle the products of your interest.

The User-Project Objectives is an important part of your order enquiry. This section helps us to see how our products are being used. Biosafety is paramount to us, and this section also shows us that you are a person with a legitimate reason to be using our products. Therefore, it’s needed for both paid access and applications for free of charge access.

EVAg is a not for profit organisation whose aims are to link researchers with virus-related resources. The partner institutions calculate the price at which they will offer each of their products, which is based on their costs in producing the product.

To confirm your order, we need the following documents back from you.
- A Purchase Order (PO) from your institution, with the following details:
Name and address of invoicing ;
VAT number (for France and EU countries);
Name and email of the Financial Contact ;
Order number and date of the order;
Description of the order ;
Total amount net of taxes or total amount including taxes (if VAT);
Payment conditions.
Please note our details:
Address: PROTISVALOR 8 RUE SAINTE BARBE 13001 MARSEILLE
VAT number: FR69441801651

- A signed copy of the quote
In the space provided on the quote, please confirm you agree to the Terms and Conditions of supply, and sign and date it.

- A signed copy of the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), if we have sent one to you
Check the MTA sent with this document. If you would like to request changes, please use the option ‘Track Changes’, amend the document, and send it back for us to revise.
Once you and a representative from your institute have signed the MTA, please return to us:
     A scanned copy of the signed MTA to the email address specified in the email
     Two signed hardcopies directly to the EVAg partner institute, at the address specified in the email.

Upon receipt of these documents duly filled in and signed, your order will be processed.
Kind reminder to follow import regulations and prepare import documents as they apply in your country, if necessary.

End-users should note that the Risk Group (RG) assigned to each product in the EVAg catalogue relates to the national regulation of the supplying institute. Please be aware there will be differing RG controls from country to country for certain viruses. EVAg's responsibility only extends as far as the international border between supplier and recipient. It is the responsibility of the recipient laboratory to confirm to EVAg that appropriate BSL facilities and trained personnel will be available to ensure the safe receipt of all viral products supplied from the EVAg catalogue.

This depends on many factors, but an estimate would be:
Receive a quote and MTA to approve and sign: within a week of placing an enquiry

Order shipped: this depends on the demand for the product, when we receive the signed documents back from you, the time taken to prepare the product, and the completion of export/import documentation by the partner and you, respectively

Order delivered: for UN classified or temperature-controlled products, within 3 days of shipment. For non-temperature controlled, non-hazardous products, usually within 7 days of shipment. We can provide you with a tracking number if one is required.

You can check the status of your enquiry or order through your account on the EVAg website. At each stage, the status is updated as follows:

Pending: Your order has been received

Generation of quote: Your quote is being prepared

User validation of quote: We are waiting to receive your acceptance of the quote, and the signed MTA

Processing: Your order is being prepared by the partner provider

Shipped: Your order has been picked up from the partner and is in transit

Invoiced: An invoice has been sent to you for payment

Completed: Your order has been delivered, and your payment has been received

Yes, once you have received the product you ordered, you can get technical support directly from the EVAg partner who supplied you.

In order to add your end-user qualification certificates documents on the website you have to:

1- Login and visit your user profile page

2- Then click on the edit button on the top of your profile to switch to the edit mode.

3- Browse to the bottom of the form till the section entitled "Your end-user qualification certificates"

4- Click on the "Choose File" button in this subsection to use your file browser to retrieve your certificate document in PDF format on your computer, then select it.

5- Once your file is selected you have to click on the "Upload" button on the form(bellow your file name) so that your selected file is uploaded on our server.

6- Once uploaded, you can add a short "Description" line to the document to make its content more intelligible by our teams.

7- You can now add a new additional file if required (eg: one for each of your certifications) by following steps 4 to 6 again.

8- Finally click on the "Save" button at the very end of the form to save your changes made to the profile

9- You can then go back to the "View" mode to see your end-user qualification certificate(s) displayed on your profile page.

The EVA project considers biosafety and biosecurity to be of critical importance, especially in dealing with highly pathogenic material (RG3 / RG4).
One aspect of our review process to assess requests to access our products is that we need documentary confirmation from your national authorities or institute head, that the proposed end-user has (a) the expertise to handle the product and (b) the appropriate biocontainment facilities.
Examples can be a signed / dated (valid) document from the national body in your country that inspects and authorises your labs, or a signed letter from your institute head.
Such documents must be “in-date”, and preferably in English.

Under this H2020 EU funded project, free of charge accesses to EVAg products can be sponsored by the European Commission under certain conditions. These free of charge accesses are called 'Trans-national access' (TNA). They are offered to the scientific community according to EC eligibility criteria that are also described in our FAQ. Applications from end-users for a TNA must be made to the Selection panel of EVAg for scientific and biosafety assessment of the demand.

To be eligible for a TNA ( free of charge trans-national access), the following eligibility criteria must be fulfilled ...

The user group leader must work in a country other than the country(ies) where the installation is located.

Only user groups that are allowed to disseminate the results they have generated under the action may benefit from the access, unless the users are working for SMEs.

Access for user groups with a majority of users not working in an EU or associated country is limited to 20% of the total amount of units of access provided under the grant, unless a higher percentage is foreseen.

The selection of user groups will be based on scientific merit of the work proposed in the application, taking into account that priority should be given to user groups composed of users who: have not previously used the installation and are working in countries where no equivalent research infrastructure exists.
Visit our web-based catalogue (Portal) and apply for a free of charge access.

The selection panel is available to assist each partner in the assessment of all inquiries they receive. The panel also will assess and decide on the provision of free of charge accesses to those that apply and qualify (Article 16). In so doing, it will apply principles of transparency, fairness and impartiality. The Selection Panel of experts is composed of three independent experts, two members of the consortium and the Quality manager. They will review and rate the application according to the criteria defined in the EC specific provisions for transnational access activities guidelines. The application is closed when a majority is reached, and the free access enquiry is agreed or rejected. The Selection Panel may ask for the assistance of the External Expert Advisory Board (EEAB) in this selection procedure.

In case you are eligible for a free of charge Trans-National Access (TNA), you can apply by ticking a specific checkbox (explicitly labelled) while you are placing your enquiry online about a product of interest available in our web-based catalogue (Portal).



This will create a space in the form where you can add references relating to the project objectives. For example, if you, or your laboratory, has published similar work in the past you could add those references here. This section is used by the Selection Panel to check that the applicant has the ability to conduct the research that they propose.

The EVAg system compares the information you have entered with the guidelines of the TNA. If these rules are not met, the option of applying for TA won’t be made available.

Please see the above FAQ, Am I eligible for a free of charge access, for guidance on who is eligible.

Also please note that if you have more than one product in your cart, you won't be able to select the ‘free of charge option’. In this case, please make orders for each product individually and apply for TNA for each order. This procedure is necessary to allow proper evaluation of your demand by our Selection Panel, and for transparency reasons towards the European Commission who will be financially sponsoring your access.

You have found one of our services that can be funded in the framework of the ISIDORe project!

Apart from our standard EVA-G TNAs (free of charge accesses), accesses to certain EVA-G services, identified to be part of the ISIDORe project, can also be offered as free of charge access opportunities by the ISIDORe project grant.

ISIDORe is an EU-funded project under the Horizon Europe program that unites a multidisciplinary consortium of 17 European research infrastructures (including EVA-G) to offer integrated services for combating current and future infectious disease outbreaks. More information about the funding opportunities to our services within the ISIDORe framework can be found on the ISIDORe project website: https://isidore-project.eu/

An ISIDORe ID number will have to be provided during your application process on our website.

In order to assess the quality of EVAg viruses and viral products, a set of inscription criteria for EVAg products has been reviewed and developed.
EVAg Virus products
3 categories of Human/Animal virus products :

Platinum represents the highest quality standards of our viruses. It contains all the viruses that meet the following criteria:
Freeze dried or frozen
complete coding sequence or complete genomic sequence
mycoplasmae free
infectivity quantified (ID50 or pfu), except for non cultivable virus samples for which infectivity cannot be tested

Gold viruses are:
Frozen
complete coding sequence or complete genomic sequence
mycoplasma tested (whatever the result)
infectivity tested (not quantified)

Silver viruses represents <25% of strains entered into the EVAg catalogue (Portal). They are viruses that have incomplete but significant molecular characterisation (Partial sequence) or viruses for which the test for mycoplasmic content was not performed.

3 categories of Plant virus products:

Platinum category contains all the viruses that meet the following criteria:
complete coding sequence or complete genomic sequence
contamination with co-infecting virus tested and negative

Gold viruses are:
complete coding sequence or complete genomic sequence
contamination with co-infecting virus tested and positive

Silver plant viruses are viruses that have incomplete but significant molecular characterisation (Partial sequence) or viruses for which the test for contamination with co-infecting virus was not performed.

EVAg cloned nucleic acids
4 categories of cloned nucleic acids :

Platinum represents the cloned nucleic acids that meet the following criteria:
cDNA fully sequenced and checked
No mutation compared to reference sequence

Gold cloned nucleic acids have:
cDNA fully sequenced and checked
Mutations mentioned (no frameshift, no unexpected STOP codon accepted)

Silver contains all nucleic acids that meet the following criteria:
cDNA partly sequenced and checked
no mutation compared to reference sequence

Bronze gathers cloned nucleic acids that have:
cDNA partly sequenced and checked
Mutations mentioned (no frameshift, no unexpected STOP codon accepted)

EVAg antibodies
4 categories of antibodies :

Platinum represents the highest quality standards of EVAg antibodies. Antibodies in this category are:
Monoclonal
Purified by affinity
Specificity documented
Characterised by at least 3 out of the 5 following methods : Western Blot, ELISA, IFA, neutralisation, immunoprecipitation

Gold antibodies are:
Monoclonal
Specificity documented
Characterised by at least 2 out of the 5 following methods : Western Blot, ELISA, IFA, neutralisation, immunoprecipitation

Silver contains all antibodies that meet the following criteria:
Monoclonal
Specificity not documented
Characterised by at least 1 out of the 5 following methods : Western Blot, ELISA, IFA, neutralisation, immunoprecipitation

Bronze gathers antibodies that are:
Seral
or Polyclonal antibodies
or Uncharacterised monoclonal antibodies

EVAg proteins
3 categories of proteins:

Platinum proteins meet the following criteria:
Purified (> 95%)
functionally characterised (enzymatic or antigenic, or by Mass Spec)

Gold contains all proteins that meet the following criteria:
Purified (> 95%)
NO functional characterisation

Silver proteins are the unpurified proteins or partly purified proteins (expression host lysate, presence of the protein assessed by immunoassay)

End-users should note that the Risk Group (RG) assigned to each product in the EVAg catalogue relates to the national regulation of the supplying institute. Please be aware there will be differing RG controls from country to country for certain viruses. EVAg's responsibility only extends as far as the international border between supplier and recipient. It is the responsibility of the recipient laboratory to confirm to EVAg that appropriate BSL facilities and trained personnel will be available to ensure the safe receipt of all viral products supplied from the EVAg catalogue.

This risk group classification is to be used for laboratory work only, as defined by the WHO laboratory biosafety manual.

Risk Group 1 (no or low individual and community risk) A microorganism that is unlikely to cause human or animal disease.

Risk Group 2 (moderate individual risk, low community risk) A pathogen that can cause human or animal disease but is unlikely to be a serious hazard to laboratory workers, the community, livestock or the environment. Laboratory exposures may cause serious infection, but effective treatment and preventive measures are available and the risk of spread of infection is limited.

Risk Group 3 (high individual risk, low community risk) A pathogen that usually causes serious human or animal disease but does not ordinarily spread from one infected individual to another. Effective treatment and preventive measures are available.

Risk Group 4 (high individual and community risk) A pathogen that usually causes serious human or animal disease and that can be readily transmitted from one individual to another, directly or indirectly. Effective treatment and preventive measures are not usually available.

Laboratory facilities are designated as:
Basic – Biosafety Level 1 (BSL1),
Basic – Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2),
Containment – Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3),
Maximum containment – Biosafety Level 4 (BSL4).

Biosafety level designations are based on a composite of the design features, construction, containment facilities, equipment, practices and operational procedures required for working with agents from the various risk groups.

For NON U.S. laboratories: Given the epidemiological situation concerning Zika virus, a simplified and quicker procedure has been put in place for the supply of EVAg strains to the scientific community outside of the US (For China supply, please see here).


1. Create an account, or Log on to our Portal

2. Add the Zika virus strain of your choice to your cart*, and fill in the required billing and shipping information, intended use, and technical description.
A list of available Zika virus products can be displayed here.

3. Don’t forget to tick the box for free of charge access

4. Complete your enquiry

Your enquiry will be forwarded to our Selection Panel that will evaluate your demand based on criteria defined in the EC specific provisions for transnational access activities guidelines.

Please note that this process usually takes one week.

If accepted, EVAg will send you the non negotiable MTA to be signed. Once the documentation is signed, your request will be forwarded to our EVAg partner, who will be in contact with you to arrange the shipment.



*Please note that for free of charge demands, only one product at a time should be ordered. This means that if you have more than one product in your cart, you won't be able to select the 'free of charge option'. This procedure is necessary to allow proper evaluation of your demand by our Selection Panel, and for transparency reasons towards the European Commission who will be sponsoring financially your access.

For U.S. laboratories: Given the epidemiological situation concerning Zika virus, a simplified and quicker procedure has been put in place for the supply of EVAg strains to the scientific community in the US. Mainly, the virus will be received free of charge by the end-user, and the virus will be shipped from the US.


1. Create an account, or Log on to our Portal

2. Add the Zika virus strain of your choice to your cart*, and fill in the required billing and shipping information, intended use, and technical description.
A list of available Zika virus products can be displayed here.

3. Don’t forget to tick the box for free of charge access

4. Complete your enquiry

Your enquiry will be forwarded to our Selection Panel that will evaluate your demand based on criteria defined in the EC specific provisions for transnational access activities guidelines.

Please note that this process usually takes one week.

If accepted, EVAg will send you the non negotiable MTA to be signed. Once the documentation is signed, your request will be forwarded to our supplier in the US, who will be in contact with you to arrange the shipment.



*Please note that for free of charge demands, only one product at a time should be ordered. This means that if you have more than one product in your cart, you won't be able to select the 'free of charge option'. This procedure is necessary to allow proper evaluation of your demand by our Selection Panel, and for transparency reasons towards the European Commission who will be sponsoring financially your access.

For China laboratories: Given the epidemiological situation concerning Zika virus, a simplified and quicker procedure has been put in place for the supply of EVAg strains to the scientific community in China. Mainly, the virus will be received free of charge by the end-user, and the virus will be shipped from China.

1. Create an account, or Log on to our Portal

2. Add the Zika virus strain of your choice to your cart*, and fill in the required billing and shipping information, intended use, and technical description.
A list of available Zika virus products can be displayed here.

3. Don’t forget to tick the box for free of charge access

4. Complete your enquiry

Your enquiry will be forwarded to our Selection Panel that will evaluate your demand based on criteria defined in the EC specific provisions for transnational access activities guidelines.

Please note that this process usually takes one week.

If accepted, EVAg will send you the non negotiable MTA to be signed. Once the documentation is signed, your request will be forwarded to one of our supplier in China, who will be in contact with you to arrange the shipment.



*Please note that for free of charge demands, only one product at a time should be ordered. This means that if you have more than one product in your cart, you won't be able to select the 'free of charge option'. This procedure is necessary to allow proper evaluation of your demand by our Selection Panel, and for transparency reasons towards the European Commission who will be sponsoring financially your access.

To enquire about joining the Industrial Platform, send an email to Industrial-Platform@european-virus-archive.com

At EVA we understand that our Industrial end-users have specific needs.
We have created an Industrial Platform to help us identify those end-users and offer a range of adapted services such as pre-negociated MTAs for different range of uses (diagnostic tests R&D, antiviral drug R&D, vaccine R&D, Internal research…), a dedicated team for managing orders, specific accesses to our biobank.

Shipping costs are always charged to the applicant, whether TNA or not, academic or not, EU/non-EU.