Coronavirus International Research Institute (CVIRI)

Coronavirus Research Institute (COVRI) is a global network of researchers and stakeholders sharing the common goal to conquer coronaviruses. COVRI focuses on the development of new drug therapeutics and vaccines for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and related infectious diseases.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that usually cause mild to severe upper-respiratory tract illnesses. Three new coronaviruses have emerged from over the past two decades to cause serious and widespread illness and death.

SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) emerged in November 2002 and caused severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). That virus disappeared by 2004. .

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is caused by the MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Transmitted from an animal reservoir in camels, MERS was identified in September 2012 and continues to cause sporadic and localized outbreaks.

The third novel coronavirus to emerge in this century is called SARS-CoV-2. It causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which emerged from China in December 2019 and was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020.

Building on previous research on SARS and MERS, COVRIS researchers are developing novel drug therapeutics and vaccines to fight against COVID-19. These projects include conducting basic research to understand how the virus infects cells and causes disease, and what interventions can prevent and stop the spread of disease.

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