Quote:
Originally Posted by mrnyc
it just meant that as cle doesnt have much or any of this, along with johns hopkins & mayo clinic the clev clinic is one of the top hospital organizations in the nation — which seems of utmost importance during this pandemic (not that tech isnt). so at least it has that.
yeah, but good luck to pitts with those during a corona because i'd much rather ...
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Yeah, I'd say that medicine is far more important than internet advertising, tech gadgets, and consumer goods delivery services. And having a top-notch, "destination" specialty healthcare provider is a huge asset for a city... though it's really not all that relevant to the current pandemic, as some small cities and most medium-sized cities and larger have excellent tertiary care hospitals which have all the expertise necessary to address covid-19 treatment.
Still, having concentration of biomedical expertise is certainly a good thing when confronting infectious disease, particularly when it's relevant to a global pandemic... so here in "pitts", we're quite fortunate to have stuff like this:
Researchers in Pittsburgh, Paris and Vienna Win Grant for COVID-19 Vaccine
https://www.upmc.com/media/news/032020-cepi-grant
3/20/2020
PITTSBURGH – An international academic-industry partnership has secured the funding necessary to develop a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The international, intergovernmental organization Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is committing nearly $5 million to a consortium led by
Institut Pasteur in Paris, in collaboration with
Themis in Vienna and the
University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research (CVR), to develop a SARS CoV 2 vaccine and take it through phase I clinical trials in humans.
“There are virologists all around the world who have been trained for this moment,” said CVR director and Jonas Salk Chair for Vaccine Research Paul Duprex, Ph.D. “We have colleagues in many parts of the world who collaborate and work with us to share information and share knowledge because this is important.”
Duprex and colleagues are developing a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine using a measles vector — meaning a measles vaccine engineered to express SARS-CoV-2 proteins on its surface — to generate immunity to the virus.
Scientists at all three institutions are already working on creating the vaccine, and CVR scientists are hard at work designing animal testing protocols that require special biocontainment measures for safe handling of potentially lethal, airborne pathogens like SARS-CoV-2.
The CVR’s Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (RBL) are state-of-the-art facilities for research on biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has supported this network of labs since 2003, with the mandate that the CVR will respond rapidly to global outbreaks, such as COVID-19, by developing animal models and testing candidate vaccines.
CVR is one of a short list of sites in the U.S. to have received samples of SARS-CoV-2 from the Centers for Disease Control.
“You have to be the right laboratory who can handle the virus in the right way with the right expertise to safely, carefully, methodically and rigorously understand the disease,” Duprex said. “All of our efforts will be directed to address this rapidly changing public health emergency,” Duprex said. “We are delighted to be part of this multinational, world-class consortium.”
The research team anticipates that by April they’ll have a candidate vaccine ready for animal testing in Paris and Pittsburgh. This will be complemented by the development of an aerosol model of COVID-19 disease at CVR. By the end of the year a total of 60-80 human volunteers in two sites in Europe will have gotten the vaccine. At the same time, Themis will be generating a stockpile of the candidate vaccine in anticipation of a phase II trial starting early next year.
CEPI and their partners will help to accelerate the vaccine through the regulatory process, potentially through an Emergency Use Listing with the World Health Organization.
“It is clear that an effective vaccine against COVID-19 is crucial if we are to beat this virus,” said Richard Hatchett, M.D., CEO of CEPI. “By investing in a range of partners and vaccine technologies, we are giving ourselves the best chance of developing a vaccine that can stop COVID-19 in its tracks.”