COVID-19 (Coronavirus): Existing Research
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The research element of this stream is a call for projects that target medical countermeasures, health service readiness, and social and policy countermeasures to COVID-19. It is led by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Irish Research Council (IRC). The call is now closed. A total of 21 awards have been approved with funding of €3.4m through international peer review.
The innovation element of this stream is an agile and adaptive funding scheme aimed at combining the capabilities of industry and academia in the development of innovative solutions that can have a rapid demonstrable impact on the COVID-19 crisis in Ireland. It is led by Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. This element of the programme remains open to applicants.
The Innovation Call resulted in more than 180 applications to-date, with significant numbers of applications in areas of relevance to frontline healthcare, diagnostics, infection control, contact tracing and management of the mitigation measures related to social distancing and isolation. 5 awards have been approved valued at €1.7m following international review. Further approvals will be made over the coming days and weeks. The agencies are working in partnership to coordinate applications and ensure a seamless and agile review and funding process, with the progress and results from each stream shared broadly.
The awards for both elements are listed below.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) helps companies to leverage the higher education system via its Technology Gateway Network based in the Institutes of Technology.
The following are some of the COVID-19 related projects being undertaken by EI client companies:
Participation in COVID-19 clinical trials
Ireland is adopting a national, strategic and coordinated approach to participation in COVID-19 clinical trials of existing or new treatments. Providing access to clinical trials for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 across all settings (ICU, hospital, community) is a key priority for the government. Ireland has an ambition to participate where possible in existing global clinical trials that are appropriate to an Irish setting. Such master protocols and collaboration deliver large numbers and enables comparison across countries and comparison of findings.
A range of medications that are currently used for other indications may have potential efficacy against COVID-19, but it is important that these treatments are made available to patients in Ireland in the context of clinical trials rather than individual, off license prescriptions. This is the best mechanism to protect patients, ensure robust scientific evidence of efficacy and make optimal use of limited medicines.
Ireland has already taken steps to begin recruitment of COVID-19 patients in ICU settings across seven sites in Ireland (REMAP-CAP trial). The trial is currently recruiting across 56 sites in 13 countries. In Ireland, the Clinical Trials Network in Critical Care will recruit ICU patients with COVID-19 into this trial across seven sites (further sites can be added as appropriate). These new COVID-19 arms of the trial are being funded by the Health Research Board.
Planning is at an advanced stage for Ireland’s participation in the WHO Solidarity Trial for COVID-19 patients in hospitals. The Minister for Health recently confirmed Ireland’s participation in this trial which is taking place in over 100 countries. The Department of Health will act as the sponsor for this trial, and will work closely with the HRB, University College Cork and HRB-funded Clinical Research Coordination Ireland (HRB-CRCI) to ensure coordination with hospitals and clinicians across the country. Critical support is also being provided by the HPRA and the HSE as access to, and availability of medicines for this and other trials is a key consideration. The trial will involve people who are 18 years or older who were recently hospitalised or already in hospital and diagnosed with COVID-19. They will be assessed by the responsible doctor to ensure they have no condition that contraindicates any of the trial medicines and then they will be randomly allocated to receive the local standard of care or that combined with one or more of the trial medicines*.
Patient outcomes for different treatments, whether the patient needed ventilation, and how long they spent in hospital, will be captured. Outcome data will be shared across all international participants, in a global effort to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in hospital settings.
*Remdesivir, Chloroquinine or hydroxychloroquinine, Lopinavir/Ritanovir and Interferon beta 1a.
The department is currently exploring opportunities for Ireland to collaborate in an international trial for COVID-19 patients in community healthcare settings.
1. This was one of a number of trials funded by the European Commission under FP7, as a Work Package in the PREPARE project. The aim of funding PREPARE (and embedded trials) was to build a European infrastructure for rapid clinical research responses in the face of new infectious disease threats.
2. HRB-CRCI is an independent integrated national clinical research network, providing centralised support in the conduct of multicentre clinical trials (both commercial and academic) across Ireland. HRB-CRCI is also the national hub for Ireland’s participation in the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, ECRIN.