The following announcement was published on the institute's website on January 24, 2020.
The Pirbright Institute is aware that misinformation regarding the
Institute and its research is circulating on social media following an
outbreak of a new (novel) coronavirus that infects humans in Wuhan,
China. These are the facts regarding our coronavirus research and
funding.
The Pirbright Institute carries out research on infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a coronavirus that infects poultry, and porcine deltacoronavirus that infects pigs. Pirbright does not currently work with human coronaviruses. More information on our coronavirus livestock research can be found on our website.
The Institute holds Patent no. 10130701 which covers the development
of an attenuated (weakened) form of the coronavirus that could
potentially be used as a vaccine to prevent respiratory diseases in
birds and other animals. Many vaccines are made in this way, from flu to
polio. We have not yet developed an IBV vaccine, but research is
ongoing.
The Institute is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation
(BBSRC UKRI) and also receives funding from many other organisations
including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The patented work
was not funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. More
information on The Livestock Antibody Hub, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is available on our website.
Click here for the full announcement.
Click here to review the aforementioned patent.
Source: The Pirbright Institute
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