The European Investment Bank (EIB) provides €15 million in funding to IRBM, an Italian company specialising in research and development for new biomedical and pharmaceutical solutions to combat rare, infectious, oncologic and neurological diseases.
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The EIB financing is supported by the Infectious Diseases Finance Facility window under the EU’s InnovFin – EU finance for innovators programme, backed by the European Union’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.
The project covers the expansion of the company's research and development activities between 2022 and 2024, both to increase capacity to address the spread of coronavirus and to scale up research into other infectious diseases.
The plans will focus on expanding vaccine production, including quality control and assurance with state-of-the-art equipment and technologies.
The expansion will also mobilise IRBM's Italian research infrastructure — among the largest in Europe — to develop vaccines to alleviate the ongoing global vaccine shortage. IRBM’s goal will be to help ensure a more resilient global response to future epidemics by producing second generation vaccines and treatments for SARS-CoV-2 and new coronaviruses.
The initiative is expected to have a positive impact on both specialised employment growth and sustainability via innovative biotechnology solutions.
The company's enhanced involvement in the global scientific response will contribute to the development of know-how and production capacities for vaccines and new medicines in Europe, which are among the key priorities of the European Union and in line with the goals of the InnovFin Infectious Diseases Facility (IDFF) and the World Health Organization. ■
A low pressure wave forming along a cold front will track across the New England coast this morning, bringing a period of rain, heavy at times for much of New England, especially for Maine today.