Hyderabad: Abbott announces Pandemic Defence Coalition

Hyderabad: A city-based healthcare organisation Abbott announced the formation of the Abbott Pandemic Defence Coalition, a global scientific and public health partnership dedicated to the early detection of, and rapid response to, future pandemic threats. By connecting global centres of excellence in laboratory testing, genetic sequencing and public health research, the program will identify new pathogens, analyse potential risk level, rapidly develop and deploy new diagnostic testing and assess public health impact in real-time.

The coalition is designed to help the global scientific and health community identify new viral threats, take quick action when one is discovered, and help prevent future pandemics. The sequences of the viruses that are found will be published in a public database so that health officials and laboratories can work together to identify if it's a novel strain or a virus that has previously been detected. This program expands upon the viral surveillance and discovery work that Abbott has performed over the last three decades.

"We cannot fight what we cannot see coming. This programme establishes a global network of 'eyes on the ground' that are always looking for threats, which helps the global health community to stay one step ahead of the next viral threat, and allows us to utilise Abbott's expertise and technology to quickly develop tests to address them" said Gavin Cloherty, Head of infectious disease research at Abbott.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated a clear need for advanced surveillance and viral sequencing – and the critically important role of testing. Understanding what pathogenic threats are emerging will help us test, diagnose and hopefully help prevent the next pandemic," he added.