UTMB News

Drug discovery partnership awarded $56 million

Drug discovery partnership awarded $56 million

Houston Chronicle, June 22, 2022

The University of Texas Medical Branch has won a $56 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to combat three major classes of viruses with pandemic potential. The funds will allow UTMB and partner Novartis to establish an Antiviral Drug Discovery Center for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern to focus on coronavirus, flavivirus and henipavirus. “We must prepare for the next pandemic by working together across governmental, nongovernmental, academic and private sectors to develop an arsenal of countermeasures,” said Dr. Pei-Yong Shi, a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology and one of the leaders of the partnership. The San Antonio Express-News also reported this news.