$443,000 grant helps UNC researchers fight COVID-19

The technology grant will allow them to purchase a multi-component robotic system to help them stay at the forefront of developing COVID-19 treatments to save lives.

For several years, UNC researchers have been involved in a multi-center partnership with Gilead Sciences in California where the drug Remdesivir was first developed.

The drug has been used in treating many coronaviruses, including COVID-19. "It’s fortunate that it has been as broadly effective as it has been and continues to be," said Rachel Graham, Ph.D., an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Gillings School.

Graham says that, for now, Remdesivir has FDA approval only for "compassionate use" in severely ill patients. She says the grant will be key in helping them accelerate their efforts. "So that we can test more and more vaccine, more and more therapeutics, more and more medical counter-measures and get the work done much, much faster," she said.

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In the past, liquid tests in their lab have been done by hand. Now, an enclosed robotic system will take over. "It’s extremely accurate. It’s extremely standardized, and there is no operator error involved," Graham said.

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She said faster testing can help researchers track changes in coronaviruses so that new medications and vaccines can be developed and at a much faster pace than in their reaction to the current COVID-19 pandemic. "We would like to get in front of it next time, instead of trying to pick up the pieces later," she said.

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In the Giliad Science Remdesivir project, UNC researchers have worked in partnership with many research hospitals across the United States and around the world, including Duke University which carried out human trials for the drug.