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The government funding agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) announced today that in view of the current difficulty in beginning research projects it is extending the start date for awarded grants and fellowships from three to six months. An additional clause will be added to newly offered grant letters. Unless delivering time critical investments or a fixed start date is a condition of award, UKRI will also extend the latest start date for grants in cases where the offer letter was issued before this policy change.
The Carlos III Health Institute said it approved more than 60 COVID-19 research projects last week, bringing the number of projects to 81 and total funding to date to €24 million. Among the new studies are two looking for faster ways to diagnose the infection; work to improve understanding of the virus; research into the effects on pregnant women and newborns; and studies of how COVID-19 infection affects people with comorbidities such as heart disease and multiple sclerosis.
The European Commission has pledged an additional €675 million from its Horizon 2020 programme to fund research projects working on vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics against COVID-19, and to enable investments in companies developing treatments for infectious diseases.
The commission announced the new funding during an international pledging event that brought the total raised from around the world to €7.4 billion, to ramp up funding for vaccines and drugs against the pandemic infection.
The new money is in addition to €325 million the commission has already allocated in research grants and funding for public-private partnerships tackling the pandemic, bringing its total commitment to €1 billion.
By the end of May, the commission will amend the Horizon 2020 work programme to redeploy the unallocated money.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen opened the international pledging conference to raise money for coronavirus vaccines, taking place this afternoon, by announcing the EU will donate €1 billion. “The reality is that we will have to learn to live with the virus – until and unless we develop a vaccine. This is why we have to join forces and pool our money and our minds to kick-start work on vaccines, diagnostics and treatments against coronavirus,” von der Leyen said.
The EU is joining forces with national governments in France, Germany, Spain, Norway, the UK, Canada, Japan, Saudia Arabia and Italy in the the Coronavirus Global Response Initiative. The event is also supported by the World Health Organisation, the Gates Foundation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Initiative, the Global Fund, Unitaid, the Wellcome Trust, the foundation for diagnostics FIND, the World Bank and the international vaccine organisation Gavi.
A total of €5.1 billion of a target €7.5 billion has been raised already, with pledges from Japan (€762 million), Canada (€551 million), Germany (€525 million), France (€510 million) and the UK (€441 million).
Scientists at the University of Utrecht have discovered an antibody capable of neutralising the COVID-19 virus SARS-CoV-2 in the laboratory, as the first step in the possible development of a treatment for the infection. The antibody targets the spike protein on the surface of the virus, through which it enters human host cells. The researchers found it by creating 51 cell lines from humanised mice that produced antibodies to the spike protein of different coronaviruses and testing them to see if any were capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. In addition, they demonstrated in cell culture that the antibody targets the spike protein. Reporting their findings in Nature Communications today, the researchers suggest their antibody, either alone or in combination with other neutralising antibodies that target the spike protein, could potentially aid the development of therapeutics in the future.
The Irish Centre for Applied Artificial Intelligence, announced its intellectual property will be free to licence to support COVID-19 R&D activities. Although not developed specifically to address COVID-19, the centre’s technology demonstrator projects, in the broad areas of artificial intelligence, data analytics and machine learning, are suitable for repurposing. The move follows Knowledge Transfer Ireland’s recent announcement of a dedicated non-exclusive royalty-free licence to speed up the dissemination of critical COVID-19 related intellectual property from Irish universities and Institutes of Technology, to companies.
The European Business Angels Network and the European Business and Innovation Centre Network are bringing together their network of investors and start-ups for an e-pitching session taking place today at 15:00 CEST. The event will focus on medical and infection support technologies, with promising start-ups such as Delphinus which has developed a bio-engineered surface coating capable of killing viruses and bacteria on contact and remaining active for days on surfaces. To register, follow the link here to the event.
The Israeli cell therapy company Pluristem Therapeutics is to get €50 million in non-dilutive financing from the European Investment Bank, to support its research and development in the EU and in particular clinical development of its PLX cells as a treatment for complications associated with COVID-19. A number of COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure have been treated with the company’s placenta-derived PLX cells, under a compassionate use programme. The deal, backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, follows the recent formation by Pluristem of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Berlin.
Germany has received approval from the European Commission for a state aid scheme supporting R&D related to coronavirus research and to invest in testing and production facilities for medical products. This will include vaccines, hospital and medical equipment, and personal protective equipment. Research organisations will be encouraged to set up cross-border collaborations, with a 15 per cent bonus if projects are supported by more than one member state.
The European Innovation Council (EIC) accelerator pilot is to get an extra €150 million to fund COVID-19 projects at start-ups and SMEs, after receiving more than 1,400 applications to its most recent call. For high quality applications that cannot be funded, EIC will offer seals of excellence, as a sign to other funding bodies that projects merit their backing. Winners of the new funding round will be announced in late May.
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