R&D; Blueprint and COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, but the global response draws on the lessons learned from other disease outbreaks over the past several decades.

As part of WHO’s response, the R&D Blueprint was activated to accelerate diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus. The Blueprint aims to improve coordination between scientists and global health professionals, accelerate the research and development process, and develop new norms and standards to learn from and improve upon the global response.

On 30 January 2020, following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the WHO Director-General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

World scientists on COVID-19 then met at the World Health Organization’s Geneva headquarters on 11–12 February 2020 to assess the current level of knowledge about the new virus, agree on critical research questions that need to be answered urgently, and to find ways to work together to accelerate and fund priority research to curtail this outbreak and prepare for those in the future.

The discussion led to an agreement on two main goals. The first was to accelerate innovative research to help contain the spread of the epidemic and facilitate care for those affected. The second was to support research priorities that contribute to global research platforms in hopes of learning from the current pandemic response to better prepare for the next unforeseen epidemic.

Building on the response to recent outbreaks of Ebola virus disease, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, the R&D Blueprint has facilitated a coordinated and accelerated response to COVID-19, including an unprecedented program to develop a vaccine, research into potential pharmaceutical treatments and strengthened channels for information sharing between countries.

Highlights

TPP_COVID

  WHO is publishing here the final version of Target Product Profiles (TPP) for priority COVID-19 diagnostics. These TPPs describe the desirable and...

This is a draft. The content of this document is not final, and the text may be subject to revisions before publication. The document may not be reviewed,...

On 11-12 February 2020, WHO, in collaboration with the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response (GLOPID-R) –...

Over the first 6 weeks of the new decade, the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has spread from the People’s Republic of China to 20 other countries.On...

Vaccines

Expert groups


 

Achievements


 

Reports


Therapeutics

Reports



29 July 2020

WHO target product profiles for COVID-19 therapeutics

19 June 2020

Informal consultation on the potential inclusion of Sofosbuvir/Daclatasvir in a clinical trial - 19 June 2020

13 May 2020

Informal consultation on the potential inclusion of Immunomodulators in a clinical trial - 13 May 2020

8 May 2020

Informal consultation on the dose of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the SOLIDARITY Clinical Trial - 8 April 2020

7 May 2020

Clinical Trial Design Working Group – consultation on immunomodulators - 7th May 2020

6 May 2020

Informal consultation on the potential inclusion of Immunomodulators in a clinical trial - 6 May 2020

1 May 2020

Informal consultation on the role of therapeutics in COVID-19 prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis - 1 May 2020

16 April 2020

Informal consultation on the role of therapeutics in COVID-19 prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis - 16 April 2020

15 April 2020

Informal consultation on the role of therapeutics in COVID-19 prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis - 15 April 2020

11 April 2020

Informal consultation on the potential role of interleukin-6 blockers in the clinical management of COVID-19 infection -  11th April 2020

10 April 2020

Informal consultation on the role of therapeutics in COVID-19 prophylaxis and post-exposure prophylaxis - 10 April 2020

Ethics

Social Science

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