LIVE BLOG: R&D response to COVID-19 pandemic (Archived)

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is extending its collaboration with US biotech Novavax, providing up to $384 million funding for phase I and II clinical trials and large-scale manufacturing of the company’s vaccine. This is CEPI’s largest investment to date and takes its total investment in Novavax’s potential vaccine to $388 million. The phase I trial of the vaccine candidate NVX-CoV2373 is due to start in Australia later this month, with phase II to be conducted in multiple countries if top line results from phase I, due in July, are positive. The money will also allow Novavax to start developing a scaled up process to potentially allow manufacturing of up to 100 million doses by end of 2020 and to negotiate access to large-scale manufacturing capacity in multiple countries, with a goal of potentially producing over one billion doses during 2021.

The Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled this year due to COVID-19, but research about it has continued unabated. Researchers at the universities of Stirling and Glasgow analysed the popular voting records for Eurovision contestants since 1999 and confirmed what any of the famous show’s 200 million viewers already knew: the Swedes and Norwegians really do trade votes. Eurovision voting patterns correlate with how strong or weak business ties are between nations: the more business is done between two countries, the more likely TV viewers in those countries are to vote for each others’ national contestants.

The researchers, publishing in the Journal of International Business Studies, conclude: "The insight into social affinity between nations which this analysis of Eurovision voting patterns provides may be a better predictor of international business exchanges than traditional measures of cultural similarity.” Now we know.

(For those missing their annual Eurovision fix, which has appeared every spring since 1956: This year’s Dutch hosts are planning an online “celebration” starting tonight, with a “Grand Final” on Saturday, 16 May.)

France’s National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (Inria) today released the source code and documentation for its coronavirus tracing app, StopCovid, calling on developers to improve it. The code will be continuously updated  based on suggestions from developers as they review the code. The move to open the source code is seen as an attempt by France to address concerns about the app’s transparency and security. The app will inform users if they have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and guide further action. The finished app is to be presented at the National Assembly on 25 May and released to the public in June.

The French Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the government investment bank Bpifrance are to back large scale public private partnerships to develop vaccines and therapies against COVID-19. The funding is for early stage discovery and development and clinical trials, which must be conducted in France. Awardees will get a minimum of €4 million, with the possibility to receive up to €50 million or more.  Application deadline: 30 September.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) today appointed its first programme manager to help guide promising life sciences and biotech projects. Iordanis Arzimanoglou, who works as a coach for biomedical start-ups at the EU’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, will take on this new role. EIC will recruit more experts throughout the year, to oversee projects in areas such as green innovation and artificial intelligence. The council also announced its latest batch of grant winners, with 35 projects chosen to receive a total of €114 million.The European Innovation Council (EIC) today appointed its first programme manager to help guide promising life sciences and biotech projects. Iordanis Arzimanoglou, who works as a coach for biomedical start-ups at the EU’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, will take on this new role. EIC will recruit more experts throughout the year, to oversee projects in areas such as green innovation and artificial intelligence. The council also announced its latest batch of grant winners, with 35 projects chosen to receive a total of €114 million.

Microsoft has opened an international call for non-profits, academia and governments to propose AI projects that could help in the COVID-19 response. Suitable projects will be granted access to Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing services and the possibility to collaborate with the company’s data scientists. The call is part of Microsoft’s $40 million, five-year AI for Health programme, launched in January to promote the use of AI to improve the health of people around the world. 

On 9 April the company said it is switching the focus of the programme to concentrate on five areas where it thinks AI will be useful in managing COVID-19: Data and insights to inform on safety and economic impacts; enabling research to further the development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics; allocation of resources, including recommendations on the allocation of limited assets, such as hospital space and medical supplies; dissemination of accurate information to minimise the sharing of misinformation; and scientific research to study and understand COVID-19. Application deadline: 15 June.

Estonian telemedicine specialist Viveo Health, is making its platform technology Virtual office for doctors available free of charge to medical professionals around the world. The company says healthcare professionals have been forced to use social media and other channels that are not secure, to communicate with patients during the pandemic. Viveo’s telehealth system is purpose built, with an authentication feature which provides greater security, ensuring patient-doctor confidentiality.

The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation today launched a €12 million funding call for research projects to increase supplies of products needed to deal with the pandemic, improve COVID-19 treatment and diagnosis, and implement new public health measures. The call, which will remain open until the budget is exhausted, seeks projects that can be quickly implemented in response to the ongoing public health emergency. Some of the funding may come out of Spain’s €10 billion 2014 - 2020 regional development fund.

The biotech company Beroni Group announced that working in collaboration with Tianjin University in China, it has discovered 24 lead nanobody constructs that could be applied to develop diagnostics and treatments for Covid-19 infections. Nanobodies, originally commercialised by the Belgian biotech Ablynx NV, are single domain antibodies derived from camels and llamas, which have the capacity to bind key proteins of the coronavirus. Beroni is working on humanising the nanobodies, to reduce their immunogenicity and enhance the therapeutic efficacy. The research team is now preparing to conduct animal experiments and clinical trials, with results expected within the next 12-18 months.  

Booz Allen Foundation, a charity funded by the management consultancy Booz Allen Hamilton, has issued a call for proposals for research to help build lasting community resilience in the wake of the pandemic. The $1 million fund will provide grants of up to $100,000 to nonprofits, entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses to harness the power of data and technology to improve COVID-19 relief efforts for vulnerable populations and key workers affected by the crisis. Project leaders must be US citizens, however teams can include people of other nationalities. Application deadline: 15 June 2020.