INMI and Fondazione Roma together for research on Sars-CoV-2

Rome, 11th of March 2020

The Foundation’s support will allow the Institute to equip a new facility for research on Sars-CoV-2

The National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI) ‘Lazzaro Spallanzani’ and Fondazione Roma are pleased to announce their partnership which, through a contribution of 500.000 euro donated by Fondazione Roma, will allow the creation of a new facility dedicated to the investigation of the biological characteristics, immune response and treatment of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

The Scientific Director of INMI, Giuseppe Ippolito, remarked, “Thanks to the contribution by Fondazione Roma, we may use innovative three-dimensional culture models which will allow us to bypass animal experimentation and thus accelerate the investigation of the response of the human immune system to SARS-CoV2 and the interaction of drug candidates for the treatment of Coronavirus disease – COVID-19.”

The General Director of INMI, Marta Branca, commented, “The partnership with Fondazione Roma will enable us to strengthen the vocation of our facility, where the findings of our research have a direct impact on the improvement of treatment: a pathway that leads to tangible findings from our researcher’s labs that may be used by our doctors for the benefit of patients, in a virtuous short circuit which is the very essence of our role as an Institute for Scientific Research and Care (IRCCS, Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico).”

The Honorary President of the Foundation, Professor Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, declared,Fondazione Roma – which has always been careful to meet the needs of the local community or those of the entire country in the field of Health and Scientific Research in the bio-medical sector as per my explicit instructions that date back to many years ago – in the face of the health emergency that has struck our country too, could not just sit back and watch.  Therefore, in this difficult situation, it appeared appropriate to reward the institution of excellence in the field of infectious diseases in Rome, the Lazzaro Spallanzani hospital that is amongst the first in Europe to have managed to isolate the novel virus and is commendably striving to cope with the ongoing pandemic, by providing more and technologically advanced tools to support research which, in the long-term, will be the trump card, so as to investigate the biology, immune response and treatment of COVID-19.”

The Chairman of Fondazione Roma, Franco Parasassi, underlined how, “The Foundation’s latest project is part of the solicitude and closeness that has always been shown to public and private non-profit health and research facilities which, over the years, have enabled them to support their increasing needs in biomedical scientific research, diagnostics, advanced therapies, bedside technology and operating theatre equipment, with grants for a total of approximately Euro 70.000.000,00, plus the 500.000,00 euro that have now been assigned to the Spallanzani Hospital.”