SASKATOON

Saskatoon lab to test antiviral compounds' response to COVID-19

Carla Shynkaruk Multi-Skilled Journalist CTV News Saskatoon

Published Wednesday, October 14, 2020 12:00PM CST

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, NIAID-RML

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SASKATOON -- VIDO-InterVac at the University of Saskatchewan has been awarded a grant of $830,000 to help collaborate with global research leaders on the response to fight COVID-19.

“This important project is evidence of the collaborative global response to fight COVID-19,” VIDO-InterVac Director Dr. Volker Gerdts said in a news release.

“The ultimate goal is to develop a safe solution to end this pandemic as quickly as possible.”

The money, from the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, will go towards determining the effectiveness of several antiviral compounds against COVID-19.

VIDO-InterVac is engaged with more than 80 organizations globally to test antivirals, vaccines, and other therapeutics.

The accelerator was launched in March by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard to help find and produce effective treatments for COVID-19.