Institut Pasteur advancing COVID-19 research
Institut Pasteur in Paris and GloPID-R member, Institut Pasteur International Network (IPIN) have mobilized teams across the world to respond to the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. In January, their coronavirus task force was established to coordinate research into new COVID-19.
Institut Pasteur’s notable achievements since the outbreak have been the sequencing of the whole viral genome of coronavirus 2019-nCoV and the rapid subsequent isolation of strains of coronavirus 2019-nCoV using the samples taken from the first confirmed French cases.
Projects and Partnerships
Institut Pasteur and IPIN are also carrying out projects in partnerships or with the support of other organizations such as REACTing, RECOVER and I-MOVE-COVID19 detailed below. Other research projects are under way or due to begin shortly, and cover:
- Knowledge of the virus and its pathogenesis
- Development of research tools
- Epidemiological research, social epidemiology
- Development of diagnostic tools
- Prophylaxis and vaccine candidates
- Therapeutic research
- Modeling
REACTing, a consortium coordinated by Inserm, is accelerating high quality research into COVID-19 and, with the support of the French Ministry of Solidarity and Health and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, has selected 20 scientific initiatives and committed 1M€ for the rapid containment of Sars-CoV-2 and the improvement of treatment for those infected. These projects cover diagnostic, clinical and therapeutic research; epidemiology and fundamental research projects and human and social sciences.
Institut Pasteur is also participating in the Rapid European COVID-19 Emergency Research response (RECOVER) programme and in I-MOVE-COVID-19.
RECOVER, launched by the University of Antwerp along with 9 international Partners, was selected for funding by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 research framework. It furthers long standing investment by the European Commission in clinical research preparedness for epidemic response. The immediate action of RECOVER’s consortium includes: a survey to understand EU citizens’ experience of COVID-19 and its impacts; a study to understand household transmission and the impact of interventions to mitigate transmission; a study to better understand if and how children may contribute to the spread of the virus; and recommendations to the EU on protecting the health of those at the frontline of tackling the spread of the outbreak. The results of all RECOVER studies will immediately inform the European response to COVID-19.
The I-MOVE-COVID-19 consortium was successful in a bid for the European Commission H2020 call on “Advancing knowledge for the clinical and public health response to the novel coronavirus epidemic” and its objectives are to obtain epidemiological and clinical information on patients with COVID-19 as well as virological information on SARS-CoV-2. This will be achieved through the provision of a flexible surveillance platform, research studies and the evaluation of public health interventions which will increase the knowledge base, guide patient management and inform the public health response.
