Mexico to finance national research projects to speed up COVID-19 vaccine and treatment development

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casauón informed yesterday morning that the Mexican Consortium for COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments will finance the acceleration of investigation and development of 19 Mexican projects for vaccines and treatments against the new coronavirus.

In a news conference led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the minister said resources will come from the Mexican Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AMEXCID), resources from abroad, and contributions from private foundations to support research projects from the National Polytechnic Institue (IPN), the Research and Advanced Studies Center (CINVESTAV), and the Autonomous University of Querétaro, among other institutions.

He added that one of the projects that will be financed is a system to monitor patients with COVID-19 in hospitals by the IPN, the development of a low-cost PCR kit by the UNAM, as well as a fast and cheap serology tests by CINVESTAV Monterrey.

The minister informed there have been talks with Norway’s Foreign Affairs Minister Eriksen Søreide regarding Mexico’s participation at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and common proposals for the U.N. Security Council 2021-22.

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Moreover, he mentioned that as of August 24, Mexico’s “Health Window” in the U.S. has helped 2,327,903 people remotely and 476,192 directly with the help of over 10,000 local allies.

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