SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19 research programs

The Michelin Corporate Foundation has pledged its commitment to the Institut Pasteur in Paris to support an ambitious research program aimed at finding science-based solutions to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mustering unprecedented resources, this program has brought together over 50 teams and more than 400 people involved in Covid-19 research on the Paris campus.

The program has made significant breakthroughs in the following areas:

• perfection of testing techniques, including antibody testing
• epidemiological studies and modelling
• biology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and interactions between virus and host
• therapeutic approaches to the treatment and prevention of Covid-19
• vaccination strategies for preventing Covid-19

Major results include:

• sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 and the development of a RT-PCR test by the end of January
• seroprevalence studies into the French population
• use of models to define scenarios in different areas, for example, the effects of lock-down on the spread of the epidemic, on death rates and hospital admissions
• mapping interactions between SARS-CoV-2 proteins and cell proteins
• exploration of different Covid-19 vaccination models

At the end of December 2020, 89 research projects on SARS-CoV-2 were in progress with around 100 known publications in scientific journals. 56 of these projects were taking place within the Institut Pasteur in Paris and 33 in establishments belonging to the international network of Pasteur institutes.

This work has been achieved thanks to public and private funding. This includes corporate giving such as that of the Michelin Corporate Foundation which was keen to act in the face of the health crisis.

To know more : https://www.pasteur.fr/en/all-sars-cov-2-covid-19-institut-pasteur