INTREPID Alliance
INTREPID Alliance exists to accelerate the development of new treatments for emerging viral pandemic agents through coordinated early science and R&D, policy and advocacy and stakeholder engagement. INTREPID Alliance members collectively bring expertise in drug discovery, antiviral R&D and medicine manufacturing.
Overview
The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of focusing on innovation across a full range of medical countermeasures, including tests, vaccines and treatments.
Led by the biopharmaceutical industry and working with the public and private not-for-profit sectors, INTREPID will work to accelerate progress in discovery and development of new antiviral treatments for future pandemics. This endeavor is in support of the 100 Days Mission, which seeks to have 25 antiviral therapies for viral diseases with pandemic potential ready for Phase II/III clinical trials by 2026.
How the INTREPID Alliance works
As a first step, INTREPID will publish an initial list of promising antiviral compounds later this year based on publicly available information and derived from a global landscape assessment and scientific evaluation.
The INTREPID Alliance members collectively bring expertise in drug discovery, antiviral R&D and medicine manufacturing. INTREPID will monitor and evaluate the wide range of innovative antiviral compounds and projects being researched around the world by academia, government, non-governmental organizations and the private sector for infections with pandemic potential, including coronaviruses, or viral families of concern such as filoviruses. The listed compounds will include those that the experts assess to be able to proceed quickly into late-stage clinical development on the onset of a new pandemic.
The landscape assessment is expected to identify some R&D gaps that would require new research projects and collaborations to be established and funded. INTREPID will offer advice and consultation to help accelerate the selected antiviral compounds that have the strongest potential to positively alter the course of future pandemics.
INTREPID Alliance Inaugural Summit Proceedings
The work of INTREPID was launched at a one-day Antiviral Summit in March this year, which brought together around 100 thought leaders in virology and global health.
A report from the proceedings sets out a number of recommendations from Summit attendees including government agencies, industry and multilateral organizations to strengthen the global antiviral ecosystem for pandemic preparedness. These span regulatory coordination, access considerations, manufacturing, as well as policy coordination.