COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator Awards $20 Million in Initial Grants to Fund Clinical Trials
Researchers at three institutions in the U.S. and U.K. receive grants to advance
studies of repurposed drugs and novel antibodies in preventing COVID-19
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 1, 2020/ -- Today,
the partners in the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator 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. These 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 (www.Mastercard.us) 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 COVID-19.
“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,” said Mark
Suzman, chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation. “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 will allow the
Accelerator to continue making grants to study repurposed drugs and
investigate biological compounds for activity against COVID-19. More
funding is needed to move promising therapies through development and
scale-up.
Studying repurposed drugs to prevent infection
Two of the newly announced trials will 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 COVID-19 in people already
exposed to the infection. The trial will enroll up to 2,000 asymptomatic men and women who are close contacts of persons with confirmed or
pending COVID-19 diagnoses. Participants will be randomly assigned to
take hydroxychloroquine or a placebo over two weeks, and samples will be collected and tested daily to confirm new COVID-19 infections across
the two groups. Sandoz, a Novartis division, has donated the
hydroxychloroquine doses needed to conduct the study. Participant
enrollment will begin in April, and results will be available in late
2020.
The Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU) will lead a
placebo-controlled prophylaxis study of chloroquine and
hydroxychloroquine in preventing COVID-19 in at-risk health care
workers, frontline staff, and other high-risk groups. At least 40,000
participants in Asia and Europe will be randomized to receive either
chloroquine (East Asian countries), hydroxychloroquine (United Kingdom
and Europe), or a matched film-coated placebo as daily prophylaxis for
three months. The one-year project, known as COPCOV, aims to determine
definitively whether these drugs can prevent COVID-19 and thus protect
the vital health care workforce. Participant enrollment will begin in
April and initial results will be available by the end of the year.
Nick Cammack, COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator Lead at Wellcome, said:
“Investment in research is the world's only exit strategy from COVID-19. Drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics are vital to saving lives, to ending
this pandemic, and to preventing it from happening again. Now is the
time to evaluate whether existing drugs will prove to be safe and
effective. We urge others to join us in this collective global effort.
Investing now, at scale, in the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator is
vital if we are to change the course of this pandemic.”
Advancing immunological therapies
In addition to funding drug trials, the Accelerator will provide $1.73
million to the La Jolla Institute for Immunology to establish a
Coronavirus Immunotherapy Consortium, known as CoVIC. The effort will
bring together scientists from around the world and enable them to share and evaluate candidate antibodies side by side in a blinded,
multidisciplinary analysis to identify ideal therapeutic combinations.
Antibody therapies can be used to protect frontline health care workers, contacts, and others who are exposed, as well as treat those who have
already become sick.
“Today’s grants are an important next step in the Therapeutic
Accelerator’s commitment to identifying and scaling treatments to combat COVID-19,” said Mike Froman, vice chairman of Mastercard. “In order to
provide therapeutic solutions to this global pandemic, particularly for
those most vulnerable, we need to speed up the research and development
process through a collaborative funding effort by the private sector,
philanthropic organizations, and governments. We welcome the
participation of additional organizations that can contribute the
resources needed to help bring an end to this crisis.”
About the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator:
The Therapeutics Accelerator is an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard to speed-up the
response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling up treatments. The partners are committed to equitable
access, including making products available and affordable in
low-resource settings. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will play a catalytic role by accelerating and evaluating new and repurposed drugs
and biologics to treat patients with COVID-19 in the immediate term, and other viral pathogens in the longer-term.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (www.GatesFoundation.org) works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing
countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the
chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the
United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with
the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to
succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the
direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
About Wellcome:
Wellcome (https://Wellcome.ac.uk) exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support
researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better
science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health
research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation.
About Mastercard:
Mastercard (www.Mastercard.us) is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits
everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and
accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion,
our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions,
governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our
decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside
and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210
countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that
unlocks priceless possibilities for all. Mastercard is the sole
corporate donor to the Mastercard Impact Fund.
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