A philanthropist inspired by the record-breaking creation of a messenger RNA vaccine that slowed the impact of COVID-19 is offering A$250 million ($172 million) over 20 years to help prevent future pandemics. are trying to do the same with cures for the threat of The donation will fund a research center in Melbourne that will develop technology to rapidly create antiviral treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, when new infections emerge.

Jeffrey Cumming, who made a global fortune investing in and managing oil and gas and solar power, has invested in Australia’s largest ever medical research effort to establish the Cumming Global Center for Pandemic Treatment. is said to be a gift of Stunned by the economic and political impact of COVID-19, he “wanted to do something to protect the world in the next pandemic,” said James Cumming, former dean of medicine at the University of Melbourne and a friend of Cumming’s. Angus says.

Angus introduced Cumming, a Canadian and New Zealand citizen living in Melbourne, to infectious disease researcher Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute of Infectious Diseases and Immunity at the University of Melbourne. At a series of conferences, Lewin pitched the idea of ​​working on an antiviral treatment. “Most people don’t really understand what a cure is. [can do] Lewin, who will lead the new center, said:

A brochure introducing the center claims that more than 4 million lives could have been saved if effective COVID-19 drugs were available in sufficient quantities within six months of the pandemic’s start. doing. But his $95 billion publicly invested in a COVID-19 vaccine worldwide, in his first year of the pandemic, was spent developing a cure for SARS-CoV-2. of less than $5 billion. “What surprised me was how fast they were making vaccines and how slow they were making antivirals,” says Cumming. chemistry.

The new center aims to accelerate the creation of antivirals by focusing on developing new pharmaceutical tools rather than direct drugs. The goal is to “rapidly adapt antivirals to new pathogens, in line with what CEPI has done for vaccines,” says the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a foundation that funds vaccine research and development. Referring to , Lewin said.

The center will go beyond the current major class of antiviral drugs known as small molecules, says Lewin. The first three areas he will focus on are improving monoclonal antibodies that neutralize the virus. Targets viral RNA rather than pathogen proteins. Strengthens the antiviral action of the human immune system itself. The center partners with industry to commercialize products, but does not conduct clinical trials itself.

Cumming’s long-term commitment to the center reflects the time it takes to develop such a platform. “Twenty years felt right for me,” he says. Money can only support salaries, not facilities. With long-term and stable support, “researchers don’t have to write grants,” says Angus. Mr. Cumming’s donation will be supplemented with his $52 million from the Australian state of Victoria, which will also provide a new building. Angus believes other foundations may eventually add to the total: 70% of his funding will support research by Doherty researchers, and his 216 jobs at the institute create The rest will be sent to sub-center scientists around the world.

“This is a great opportunity to bring scientists together to focus on prevention and treatment beyond vaccines,” said Raymond Skinazi, an organic chemist at Emory University.

“This kind of funding is an incredible catalyst for biomedical progress,” adds Bruce Walker, an HIV expert at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard. His $100 million backing from entrepreneur and philanthropist Philippe Ragon and his wife Susan. Another reason for his investigation into a cure, Walker says, is that “the HIV pandemic has shown that where vaccines have failed, medicine can be made.”