The New CARE Consortium, Europe’s Largest Research and Development Initiative, Launched

Johnson & Johnson announced that it is founding and co-leading the new CARE (Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe) consortium, Europe’s largest, multi-partner scientific research initiative dedicated to discovering and developing urgently needed treatment options for COVID-19. In this role, J & J is helping bring together Europe’s best and brightest scientific minds from 37 renowned academic institutions, research organizations and pharmaceutical companies, together with partners from the United States and China.

The current pandemic demonstrates just how serious certain coronaviruses have become as a public health concern. CARE will focus on three strategic pillars to achieve therapeutic breakthroughs against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) and other coronavirus threats:

• Drug repositioning and repurposing
• Small molecule discovery
• Virus-neutralizing antibody discovery

The drug repositioning pillar builds on Johnson & Johnson’s ongoing partnership with the prestigious Rega Institute at KU Leuven in Belgium, where a team of scientists are screening molecule libraries containing thousands of existing compounds to determine if they have potential as COVID-19 treatments. In addition to identifying therapeutics – or even a cure – for COVID-19, CARE aims to forge a deeper understanding of coronaviruses so that the world is better prepared to respond to future outbreaks.

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