With few good targets and limited financial incentives, the field of antiviral drug discovery has lagged. The COVID-19 pandemic might be awakening the world to the problem.

Boris Johnson wants to do for Covid drugs what he did for vaccines. It’s not that simple.

Despite dire warnings, a stockpile of ready compounds to fight viral pandemics was sorely lacking. Can drugmakers finally do the right thing?

“Why don’t we start thinking about how we can prevent the next pandemic, even while at the same time working to solve the current problem?”

Join Tar Heels Together for an important conversation with campus experts including Eshelman Institute for Innovation Director John Bamforth and UNC School of Medicine Associate Professor Nat Moorman. They will discuss how READDI is bringing together the world’s best minds in science and business to proactively develop and deliver novel antiviral drugs before the next virus creates another global catastrophe.

Watch the recorded webinar here.

Antibiotics abound, but virus-fighting drugs are harder to come by, and Covid-19 amply shows how much we need them. Fortunately, scientists are getting better at making and finding them.

COVID-19 is not the first pandemic, yet much of the world was unprepared to face it. Scientists at UNC are committed to ensuring this lack of preparedness does not happen again.

For decades, scientists warned of the potential for a global coronavirus outbreak. But when SARS-CoV-2 emerged, no therapeutics, drugs, or vaccines were readily available. The Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Development Initiative (READDI) — founded by researchers at UNC and the Structural Genomics Consortium — is not only finding solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also drugs and therapeutics for future viral outbreaks.

Watch the full video here.

John Bamforth oversees the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Discovery Initiative, a non-profit drug research and development organization that is part of the Eshelman Institute for Innovation.

The mission: to find treatments for COVID-19 and to anticipate what treatments may be needed in future pandemics.

Tech Transfer Central's University-Industry Engagement Advisor highlights READDI's strategic approach to planning for future pandemics.