Our global response
We are working closely within international consortia – The Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network (BSL4ZNet) and European Virus Archive - GLOBAL (EVAg) – to share information on activity, best practice and reagents and materials, including SARS CoV-2 viruses. This will ensure we do not compete or duplicate our research and development efforts.
We have established a partnership with the Peter Doherty Institute to test candidate antiviral compounds from international manufacturers. We have represented Australia in a World Health Organisation meeting on COVID-19. We are in dialogue with several international consortia in establishing novel diagnostic capability.
We have received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global group that aims to speed up the development of vaccines and cut short the COVID-19 pandemic. With this funding, we undertook pre-clinical testing of two candidate vaccines.