Antivirals Project receives IMI Cash Injection

Funding for ongoing research on diagnostics, medicines and vaccines against the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 have been recently boosted by the EU-financed Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). One of eight projects provisionally selected was submitted by coordinator Ali Mirazimi, researcher at Karolinska Institutet and Sweden’s National Veterinary Institute (SVA).

His research project ‘Modern approaches for developing antivirals’ has been allocated a total of 6.4 million euros (68 million kronor) for a period of four years and involves nine participating organizations and companies in six countries, including two based in Sweden.

The aim is to develop new medicines to fight SARS-CoV-2. The researchers will use advanced three-dimensional mini organs and stem cells in their research, and the project will be run from both SVA and Karolinska Institutet.

“I’m proud and happy that IMI has chosen to finance our project,” said Ali Mirazimi, adjunct professor in clinical virology at the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.  “This is a big success for our coronavirus research. We can now increase the pace of our efforts in developing antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2.”

In a highly competitive call, only 6% of the 144 applications were selected by IMI to receive funding. IMI is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry, represented by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). In total, the eight projects are expected to receive 117 million euros.