Research Institutes Secure $20m Grant, Seek COVID-19 Cure

Partners in the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator have announced grants of $20 million to three institutions—the University of Washington, University of Oxford, and La Jolla Institute for Immunology - to fund clinical trials in order to identify highly potent immunotherapies for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grants mark the first investments to come from the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a large-scale initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard, to speed the development of and access to therapies for COVID-19.

Currently, there are no broad-spectrum antivirals or immunotherapies available to prevent or treat Coronavirus also known as COVID-19.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mark Suzman, who disclosed this, said: “These grants to leading institutions in their fields will advance our understanding of how existing drugs and antibodies can contribute to addressing the pandemic we’re facing around the world.

“These initial investments through the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will bring rigor to the study of these potential solutions. The way forward will be informed by sound science and shared data.”

In addition, newly announced funding from government and philanthropic donors has added to the Accelerator’s initial funding. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative committed $25 million and the U.K. government committed £40 million last week.

The additional funds would allow the Accelerator to continue making grants to study repurposed drugs and investigate biological compounds for activity against COVID-19. More funding would be needed to move promising therapies through development and scale-up.

Two of the newly announced trials would fund an investigation of two well-established drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, that have known antiviral properties.

These drugs have been used to treat malaria and a variety of rheumatological conditions for more than 50 years. The trials aim to determine whether the drugs are effective as pre- and post-exposure preventive therapy for COVID-19. While these drugs both show initial promise, rigorous scientific evidence is needed to make decisions on how, where and within which populations to use them in this pandemic.

The University of Washington will conduct a multi-site clinical trial in Western Washington and the New York City area, in collaboration with New York University’s School of Medicine, investigating whether hydroxychloroquine can effectively prevent