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Agreement between IIBR, TLS and AOU Careggi signed: paving the way for collaboration in the development of a cure for COVID-19

The Director of the Israeli Institute for Biological Research (IIBR), Prof. Shmuel Shapira, the Director General of Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi of Firenze, Dr. Rocco Damone, and the President of the Fondazione Toscana Life Science (TLS) Eng. Fabrizio Landi, signed an important protocol today targeting research for finding a cure for the COVID-19 virus.

Based on the Memorandum, the prestigious medical entity of AOU Careggi and the Foundation TLS will be implementing together with IIBR, one of the world-known research centers in the field of biological research and an advocate for a revolutionizing scientific development for the cure of COVID-19, serological studies on plasma samples of people affected and cured from the virus, aimed at identifying an effective therapy based on the retrival and cloning of monoclonal antibodies. The agreement between such high-level and globally recognized institutes, intends to provide a potentially game-changing contribution to the possibility of curing Covid-19 patients.

The Embassy of Israel in Italy” declared Ambassador Dror Eydarlaunched this scientific cooperation in the spirit of friendly cooperation with our beloved country Italy, in order to overcome the crisis of Coronavirus which has created enormous damage and suffering. To our great pleasure, the cooperation is becoming concrete, and may eventually contribute to saving human lives for the benefit of both Countries and Humanity in general, in addressing this epidemic as well as eventual future outbreaks. I thank Prime Minister Conte, who responded to this request of Prime Minister Netanyahu, and contributed to the realization of this moment“.

The Ambassador of Italy to Israel, Gianluigi Benedetti, underlined that “today’s agreement between these high level institutions in both Countries is fruit of the collaboration launched during a phone conversation between PM Conte and PM Netanyahu, and constitutes the high-point in a vast web of contacts between the two scientific communities that was activated since the first days of the pandemic. This dynamics between our scientific excellencies represents the result of a politics of cooperation spread over twenty years, aimed -thanks to a relevant bilateral agreement- at the creation and the fostering of a bond of scientific, academic and technological relations of this highest level. The collaboration in the scientific field thus confirms its central role in the bilateral relations between Italy and Israel, also in these days of Coronavirus”.

The Honorary Consul of Israel, Marco Carrai, who is one of the agreement initiators and who worked until reaching the finish line of obtaining the signature, expresses his own satisfaction: “I am extremely honored to have been able to contribute to achieving an agreement between two globally-known prestigious entities such as IIBR and AOU Careggi. I am also convinced that thanks to the competencies and the professionalism emerged in the specific sector, the work coordinated between these two institutes will represent a fundamental and decisive step forward in the battle against the spread of Covid-19“.

For the Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Careggi and for the Sistema sanitario della Toscana to which it belongs“, the Director General Rocco Damone states, “it is an important recognition of the humanitarian competencies and scientific value to be called to participate in a research project on an international level, in one of the most ambitious and promising frontlines in biomedicine. Together with the honor inherent in this opportunity, continued Damone, we share the enormous responsibility with other institutions of excellence in the scientific field, to confront with the Emergency of Coronavirus with the maximum commitment in the fight against Covid-19“.

We are honored to take part in an international memorandum of understanding, with two entities of this caliber, having the joint intention of advancing scientific research in response to the spread of the coronavirus” confirmed Fabrizio Landi, President of the Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences. “As a matter of fact, our Foundation is very interested in a collaboration with IIBR e Careggi based on the competencies and the accumulated experience in the field of human monoclonal antibodies development in response to important medical emergencies, in particular as much as it concerns contagious diseases such as the COVID-19“.