This section presents the measures, activities and solutions powered by the EIT Community, Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem powering entrepreneurs and innovators, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Innovation plays a key role in responding to the significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The world we live in is changing dramatically with significant changes to our society, how we look at opportunities and how we respond to challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sig...

This section presents the measures, activities and solutions powered by the EIT Community, Europe’s largest innovation ecosystem powering entrepreneurs and innovators, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Innovation plays a key role in responding to the significant challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The world we live in is changing dramatically with significant changes to our society, how we look at opportunities and how we respond to challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sig...

A trial to see whether two anti-malarial drugs could prevent Covid-19 has begun in Brighton and Oxford.

Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine or a placebo will be given to more than 40,000 healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America.

All the participants are staff who are in contact with Covid-19 patients.

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Background
No specific antiviral drug has been proven effective for treatment of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Remdesivir (GS-5734), a nucleoside analogue prodrug, has inhibitory effects on pathogenic animal and human coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro, and inhibits Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2 replication in animal models.
Methods
We did a randomised, d...

Official findings add to concerns about Sweden’s laissez-faire strategy towards the pandemic
Just 7.3% of Stockholm’s inhabitants had developed Covid-19 antibodies by the end of April, according to a study, raising concerns that the country’s light-touch approach to the coronavirus may not be helping it build up broad immunity.

The research by Sweden’s public health agency comes as Finland warned it would be risky to welcome Swedish tourists after figures suggested the country’s dea...

A million new infections were confirmed in less than two weeks.
More than five million people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

That figure is just one measure of the pandemic’s global toll. Its persistent rise — the number passed four million less than two weeks ago — reflects not just pathogen’s pernicious spread but also increases in testing.

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Apple and Google have released long-awaited smartphone technology to automatically notify people if they might have been exposed to the coronavirus.The companies had announced the unprecedented collaboration to leverage their technology to help trace and contain the spread of coronavirus last month, and say 22 countries and several US states are already planning to build voluntary phone apps using their software.

The software relies on Bluetooth wireless technology to detect ...

Initial evidences suggest that the 44% of people with mild or asymptomatic infection have very low antibody levels with little neutralizing capacity | According to these results, a positive antibody test may not guarantee protection against SARS-CoV-2. Click here for reference

SARS-CoV-2 is a newly emerged coronavirus responsible for the current COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in more than 3.7 million infections and 260,000 deaths as of 6 May 20201,2. Vaccine and therapeutic discovery efforts are paramount to curb the pandemic spread of this zoonotic virus. The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein promotes entry into host cells and is the main target of neutralizing antibodies. Here we describe multiple monoclonal antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 S identif...

For diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a SARS-CoV-2 virus-specific reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) test is routinely used. However, this test can take up to 2 d to complete, serial testing may be required to rule out the possibility of false negative results and there is currently a shortage of RT–PCR test kits, underscoring the urgent need for alternative methods for rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with COVID-19. Chest computed tomography ...

For diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a SARS-CoV-2 virus-specific reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) test is routinely used. However, this test can take up to 2 d to complete, serial testing may be required to rule out the possibility of false negative results and there is currently a shortage of RT–PCR test kits, underscoring the urgent need for alternative methods for rapid and accurate diagnosis of patients with COVID-19. Chest computed tomography ...

As coronavirus vaccines hurtle through development, scientists are getting their first look at data that hint at how well different vaccines are likely to work. The picture, so far, is murky.


On 18 May, US biotech firm Moderna revealed the first data from a human trial: its COVID-19 vaccine triggered an immune response in people, and protected mice from lung infections with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The results — which the company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, anno...