E-DRUG: Coalition launched to accelerate research on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries
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2 April 2020 A group of scientists, physicians, funders, and policy makers
from over 70 institutions from over 30 countries have launched an
international coalition to respond to COVID-19 in resource-poor settings.
The COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition (http://www.covid19crc.org/) aims
to accelerate desperately needed COVID-19 research in those areas where the
virus could wreak havoc on already-fragile health systems and cause the
greatest health impact on vulnerable populations.
In a Comment published today in The Lancet
(http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30798-4/f
ulltext),
the members of the coalition argue that international research
collaboration and coordination is needed urgently to support African, Latin
American, Eastern European, and certain Asian countries to respond
effectively to the worsening pandemic and speed up research adapted to
resource-limited settings.
The coalition brings together an unprecedented array of health experts,
including public-sector research institutes, ministries of health, academia,
not-for-profit research and development organizations, NGOs, international
organisations, and funders all committed to finding COVID19 solutions for
resource-poor settings.
One important research response to COVID-19 has been launched already, the
World Health Organization (WHO)-led SOLIDARITY trial, an unprecedented
global effort. But the authors found that out of almost 600 COVID-19
clinical trials registered, very few trials are planned in resource-poor
settings. The authors commit to sharing their technical expertise and
clinical trial capability to accelerate COVID-19 research in these settings.
The scale of the challenge is clearly beyond the scope of any single
organization. The coalition will facilitate a coordinated approach, so that
all data from all regions can be collected in a similar fashion, pooled and
shared in real-time. This will help countries and the WHO to make rapid
evidence-based decisions on policies and practice.
We welcome the launch of this coalition, which takes advantage of existing
multinational and multidisciplinary expertise in running clinical trials in
resource poor settings, and will help the World Health Organization (WHO) in
its coordinating role in the global response to COVID-19, said Dr Soumya
Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, World Health Organization. Although the
epicentre is today elsewhere, we must prepare now for the consequences of
this pandemic in more resource-constrained settings or we stand to lose many
more lives.
Members of the Coalition call for specific commitments to ensure access, so
that effective new treatments are made available as soon as possible in
resource-poor settings and are affordable and readily accessible.
So far more than 70 organizations have joined this coalition, with a call
made to other organizations ready to contribute existing capacity to join.
Please contact the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition for more
information: mailto:info@covid19crc.org
Media contacts:
General English-language inquiries:
Ilan Moss mailto:imoss@dndi.org
Paula Feery: mailto:paula.feery@iddo.org
Spanish and Portuguese language inquiries:
Marcela Dobarro: mailto:mdobarro@dndi.org
Inquiries for Africa:
Danyell Odhiambo: mailto:dodhiambo@dndi.org
Linet Atieno Otieno: mailto:latieno@dndi.org
Inquiries for South-East Asia:
Molly Jagpal: mailto:mjagpal@dndi.org
Inquiries for India:
Manisha Sharma: mailto:msharma@dndi.org
French-language inquiries:
Frédéric Ojardias: mailto:fojardias@dndi.org
Signatories include:
Noor Hisham Abdullah, Ministry of Health, Malaysia;
Marcelo Claudio Abril, Mundo Sano Foundation, Argentina;
Ashenafi Tazebew Amare, University of Gondar, Ethiopia;
John H Amuasi, the African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and
Training (ALERRT), Ghana;
Prasert Auewarakul, Mahidol University, Thailand;
Augustin Augier, ALIMA, France;
Manica Balasegaram, GARDP, Switzerland;
Emmanuel Baron, Epicentre, France;
Daniel G. Bausch, UK Public Health Rapid Support Team & London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK;
Philip Bejon, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya;
Anders Björkman, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden;
Catharina Boehme, FIND, Switzerland;
Maria Elena Botazzi, Baylor College of Medicine, USA;
Joel G Breman, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH),
USA;
Pedro Cahn, Huesped Foundation, Argentina;
Gail Carson, International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection
Consortium (ISARIC), UK;
Roberto Chuit, Argentina National Academy of Health, Argentina;
John Clemens, icddr,b, Bangladesh;
Stewart Cole, Pasteur Institute, France;
Nick Day, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand;
Arjen Dondorp, Critical Care Asia Network, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine
Research Unit, Thailand;
Paul Farmer, Harvard Medical School, USA;
Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome, UK;
Abebaw Fekadu, CDT-Africa, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia;
Antoine Flahault, Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva,
Switzerland;
Patricia Garcia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru;
Steven Gordon, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme,
Malawi;
Anastasia Guantai, University of Nairobi, Kenya;
Philippe J Guerin, Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO), University
of Oxford, UK;
Abraham Hodgson, Ghana Health Service, Ghana;
Peter Horby, ISARIC & the African Coalition for Epidemic Research, Response
and Training (ALERRT), UK;
Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine, USA;
Muntaser Ibrahim, Institute of Endemic Diseases, University of Khartoum,
Sudan;
Chikwe Ihekweazu, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Nigeria;
Timo Jaeger, DZIF German Center for Infection Research, Germany;
Jean Jannin, Société Francophone de Médecine Tropicale et Santé
Internationale, France;
Gagandeep Kang, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute of
India, India;
Marie-Paule Kieny, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Switzerland;
Yeri Kombe, KEMRI, Kenya;
Hans-Georg Kraeusslich, DZIF German Center for Infection Research, Germany;
David Lalloo, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK;
Trudie Lang, The Global Health Network, UK;
Ramanan Laxminarayan, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy, USA;
Honorati Masanja, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania;
Marcela Mercado, Instituto Nacional de Salud de Colombia, Colombia;
Hassan Mshinda, Botnar Foundation, Tanzania;
Joia Mukherjee, Partners in Health, USA;
Trevor Mundel, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USA;
Jean-Jacques Muyembe, Institut National pour la Recherche Biomédicale,
Democratic Republic of Congo;
Barnabas Nawangwe, Makerere University, Uganda;
Francine Ntoumi, Pan-African Network for Rapid Research, Response, Relief
and Preparedness for Infectious Disease Epidemics (PANDORA-ID-NET),
Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale, Brazzaville, Republic of
Congo;
Marta Ospina, Instituto Nacional de Salud de Colombia;
Michael Parker, ETHOX Centre, University of Oxford, UK;
Bernard Pécoul, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, Switzerland;
Antonio Plasència Taradach, ISGlobal, Spain;
Richard Price, Menzies School of Health Research, Australia;
David Reddy, Medicines for Malaria Venture, Switzerland;
John Reeder, UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and
Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), Switzerland;
Philip J Rosenthal, UCSF, USA;
John Arne Røttingen, Norwegian Research Council, Norway;
Fred Siyoi, Kenya Pharmacy & Poisons Board, Kenya;
Munir S. Skaf, University of Campinas, Brazil;
Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative,
Switzerland;
Marcel Tanner, Swiss Academy of Arts and Sciences, Switzerland;
Guy Thwaites, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, Vietnam;
Faustino Torrico, CEADES Foundation, Bolivia;
Nísia Trinidade Lima, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Brazil;
Jürg Utzinger, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Switzerland;
George M Varghese, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India;
Nicholas J. White, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Thailand;
Marc-Alain Widdowson, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium;
Charles S Wiysonge, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa;
Tassew Woldehanna, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia;
Katharine Wright, Nuffield Council of Bioethics, UK;
Yazdan Yazdanpanah, REACTing & INSERM, France.
Rachel M. Cohen | Regional Executive Director
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative North America
40 Rector Street, 16th Floor | New York, NY 10006 | USA
Best Science for the Most Neglected | http://www.dndi.org
"Rachel M. Cohen" <rachel.cohen72@gmail.com>