PRiME Announces a COVID-19 Task Force on Advanced Diagnostics and New Therapeutics

As the global community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, PRiME convened leading researchers to form a COVID-19 Task Force focused on Advanced Diagnostics and New Therapeutics, aiming to develop breakthroughs to combat COVID-19 and future pandemics.

University of Toronto researchers with expertise in disease biology, medicinal chemistry, device engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, and biomolecular analysis comprised the task force. Members developed shared resources — antibodies, recombinant viral proteins, viral RNA, patient samples, assays, and protocols — to accelerate project timelines.

The initial objective focused on developing and validating new technologies addressing sample preparation and reagent availability, with the primary deliverable being prototype test kits and devices for clinical laboratory use. The task force also pursued therapeutic agents through drug-library screening and antibody-based agents, with long-term projects aimed at understanding pathogenesis mechanisms.