Joining the fight against coronavirus
04.02.20
At EFPIA our first thoughts are with all those affected by the recent outbreak of the coronavirus (nCov-2019). Considering the public health and humanitarian implications, we are committed to joining global efforts to care for those affected, contain the outbreak and develop resources to tackle future outbreaks.
To that end, we have issued a call to EFPIA members to identify suitable assets in their libraries that could be utilized in the fight against coronaviruses.
Relevant assets include diagnostics and biomarkers, approved therapies or compounds in development which could be repurposed for use in treating patients with the coronavirus. EFPIA members have also been asked to identify any ACE inhibitors, protease inhibitors or immunotherapies that could be relevant in the context of CoV.
Sequencing data (pathogens, genomes), cell lines, biobank repositories of clinical samples, viral stocks and strains that could be used to support development or validation of new treatments are also on the list of potential assets sought from EFPIA members today.
In addition to the call for assets, EFPIA is exploring, through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, potential actions to support the development of collaborative research programmes in order to fast-track the development of therapeutics and diagnostics for the coronavirus to complement the ongoing global activities on CoV vaccines.
Europe’s collaborative research community has responded to global health crises before. The Ebola and Ebola+ calls through IMI resulted in two new vaccines, four new diagnostics as well as new identification and compliance tools. Collaborating in this way has the potential to accelerate development of resources to tackle this outbreak. It enables networks of centres of excellence that can deliver real impact and create a preparedness infrastructure which can be mobilized for future outbreaks.