CARE (Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe), a new consortium supported by Europe’s Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), has just been officially launched. CARE is the largest undertaking of its kind dedicated to discovering and developing urgently needed treatment options for COVID-19. This 5-year project, with an investment of 77.7 million euros, brings together 37 teams from academic and non-profit research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, including Servier.
Antoine Bril, Servier’s Scientific Director of Public Affairs, tells us more about CARE and the contribution of Servier.
What is the ambition of this large initiative?
Antoine Bril: CARE aims to identify effective therapies with a positive safety profile for the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop new drugs and antibodies specially designed to tackle the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In addition to urgent efforts to repurpose existing therapies as a potential immediate response, the initiative is committed to a long-term understanding of the disease and development of therapies for future coronavirus threats.
How does this consortium work?
A.B.: As part of IMI, CARE gather Europe’s best scientific teams from 37 globally-renowned research-driven organizations – public and private – with partners from the USA and China to accelerate the discovery of effective therapies for COVID-19 patients in Europe and around the world. The consortium builds on three pillars: drug repositioning, by screening and profiling compound libraries contributed by partners like Servier with the aim of rapidly progressing molecules to advanced stages of clinical testing; small-molecule drug discovery based on in silico screening and profiling of candidate compounds against SARS-CoV2; and virus neutralizing antibody discovery.
How does Servier support CARE?
A.B.: Servier is providing preclinical and clinical-ready compounds to contribute to the development of an emergency response against COVID-19 and a diversity set of small-molecule candidates from its libraries as part of the long-term strategy against coronaviruses. Servier also brings lead optimization and preclinical expertise. Being committed to therapeutic progress to serve patient needs, we are proud to be part of such an effective network of laboratories, clinical centers, and data and knowledge repositories which will act as a coronavirus knowledge hub in Europe.
Learn more about IMI: https://www.imi.europa.eu/