SPECIAL COVID-19 5 based on recombinant DNA technology. “We companies that are not traditionally involved are using an existing technology that was in the infectious disease space and want to designed for influenza, and we’re applying share molecules thatmight have an anti-Covid it to the new virus thatcauses Cviod-19 effect. This complements the development disease,” said John Shiver, Head of Sanofi programmes quickly set up for vaccines, by Vaccine R&D. “Having the existing platform biotech and pharmaceutical companies – as and partnerships are key to accelerating a result several vaccines and medicines could development as much as possible.” GSK be moved to final develoment pases np h i willcontribute its adjuvant technology, an dialogue with global funders, governments ingredient added to enhance the immune and regulators. response, reduce the amount of vaccine protein required per dose and improve the The promises of Big Data and AI chances of delivering an effective vaccine that can be manufactured at scale. The pharmaceutical giant Sanofi has announced The European Commission, for its part, is a new program funding of 100 million euros organizing an international conference on to take immediate action against Covid-19 in May 4 to raise funds from governments France and provide long-term solutions. An and organizations to finance the search investment of 50 million euros is allocated for a vaccine against the new coronavirus. to medicine drugs being made available to If the researches are successful, this will patients free of charge and carrying out clinical lead to a growing demand of pharmaceutical studies in France to accelerate the search for packaging and drug delivery devices and to an effective treatment. As a reminder, Sanofi an adaptation of production by suppliers. has already donated 100 million doses of hy- Glassmaker SGD Pharma is just one example droxychloroquine to 50 countries around the of packaging manufacturer about to relaunch world. Another part of thefinancial effort willbe an investment plan of 37 million euros in its made in partnership with the Paris Hospitals two French factories anticipating an increase Foundation - Hospitals of France aimed at in the needs of the pharma industry. improving living conditions, reception and care in hospitals and nursing homes. Finally, As the EU leaders hold emergency talks Sanofi intends to finance Artificial Intelligence to coordinate a Europe-wide response to (IA) projects run by start-ups with expertise in the coronavirus epidemic, thirteen leading the detection and management of pandemics. biopharmaceutical companies and EFPIA Olivier Bogillot, CEO, announced that a vaccine members have announced their participation could be on the market in up to two years. in the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) coordinated efforts to find new treatments A further advantage is the use of data from and diagnostics: Abbvie, Astellas, Bayer, clinical trials to accelerate research. EFPIA, Boehringer Ingelheim, E-Pharma, Enyo Pharma, which represents the European pharmaceu- IDbyDNA, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, tical industry, explains in a series of EFPIA Special Product’s Line S.p.A. Dompe’ S.p.A. Talks its commitments to fight Covid-19, in and Takeda. IMI, the world’s largest pub- particular by sharing in real time the lessons lic-private partnership in health, launched of clinical trials with governments and other the fast-track call 21 in early March investing companies. On the other hand, the President €45 millions of EU funds, which will be com- of the European Commission Ursula von der plemented by investment from participating Leyen announces the lauchn ofthEUCid19e ov- companies. This unprecedented collabora- Data Platform, which should allow researchers tive effort with so many companies joining to store, share and analyze a wide variety of forces in a precompetitive context includes discoveries on coronaviruses.