Pirbright Institute

Pirbright Institute
Sponsored by	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Pirbright Institute (formerly the Institute for Animal Health) is a research institute in Woking, Surrey GU24 0NF, England, which forms part of the UK government's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Institute provides the UK with capacity to predict, detect, understand and respond to the threat and potential attack of serious viral diseases of livestock and viruses that spread from animals to humans. These viral diseases may not be present in the UK (endemic) and only circulating abroad (exotic).

Pirbright's strategic priorities are to:

• Identify, contain and eradicate economically important viral diseases of livestock which are present in, or threaten, the UK
• Research and survey high consequence livestock and zoonotic virus diseases which are present in, or threaten, the UK
• Act as an international hub for disease surveillance to provide early warning of possible disease incursions
• Carry out fundamental research into virus genetics, virus-cell interactions, arthropod-virus interactions, disease pathogenesis, and livestock and avian immunology and vaccinology
• Control livestock and zoonotic virus diseases by the development of vaccines, antivirals, diagnostics, genetic selection, genetically modified animals and arthropod vectors, and the modelling of diseases outbreaks
• Provide national facilities and expertise in high bio-containment laboratories, insectaries, animal facilities and collections of vectors and viruses which are accessible to the UK academic and commercial communities

COVID-19

Francis Boyle says that Pirbright holds a US patented vaccine against COVID-19

The coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, earlier this year is a new coronavirus, the seventh coronavirus identified that is able to infect humans. Six other coronaviruses are capable of infecting humans and these can cause diseases which range from mild to severe, and include the common cold, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The exact origin of the new virus is unknown but initial confirmation shared by China and the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that this new virus is genetically similar to a SARS-like coronavirus found in bats. The source of the outbreak has yet to be confirmed and investigations are ongoing.

Coronavirus patent

In 2015, three scientists working at the Pirbright Institute: Erica Bickerton, Sarah Keep and Paul Britton invented the coronavirus, which was promptly patented. Pirbright thus 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 but an IBV vaccine has not yet been developed and research is ongoing.

The Institute is strategically funded by the BBSRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and also receives funding from many other organisations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which did not however fund the patented work.

Livestock Antibody Hub

Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have been awarded US $5.5 million by the BMGF to establish a Livestock Antibody Hub aimed at improving animal and human health globally. The ambitious programme of work will see extensive collaboration between multiple UK research organisations in order to utilise research outcomes in livestock disease and immunology to support human health as part of the ‘One Health’ agenda.

Vaccines

The Pirbright Institute collaborates with scientific institutes and universities around the world to prevent and control livestock disease that can spread from livestock to people, known as zoonosis. Research carried out on viruses and their livestock hosts at Pirbright can inform the development of vaccines for animals and, in the case of zoonotic diseases, potentially prevent and control disease in humans.

Rinderpest

In June 2019, scientists destroyed the UK's laboratory stocks of a virus that once caused devastating cattle losses. These stocks accounted for most of the world's lab samples of rinderpest, which were held at the Pirbright Institute. Rinderpest and the deadly smallpox virus are the only diseases to have been eradicated from the face of the Earth. Pirbright's Dr Carrie Batten described the moment as "the end of an era":

"Rinderpest was devastating and by removing the stocks that are held globally you are essentially reducing the risk dramatically," she said.

Dr Michael Baron, honorary fellow at Pirbright, said the end of rinderpest would mark the beginning of a new war on other diseases:

"The success we have achieved with rinderpest has been one of the main drivers for people saying we can do this with other animal diseases and other human diseases such as polio, mumps and measles. These diseases are eradicable and this should be done," he explained.

 

Sponsor

Event	Description
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation	Very influential and rich foundation established to take leadership of global health.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.

References

This page imported content from Wikipedia on 15 March 2020.
Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks.   Original page source here