Press Release

COVID-19 treatment: update on current research with the Institut Pasteur in Korea and Philippe Lefort, Ambassador of France to Korea

2020-04-22
COVID-19 treatment: Update on current research with the Institut Pasteur in Korea and
Philippe Lefort, Ambassador of France to Korea


The international scientific community is focusing its efforts on finding treatments and vaccines to end the pandemic. In this context, the French Ambassador to Korea, Mr. Philippe LEFORT, will visit the Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) on Apr. 23.  This first meeting with Dr. Wang-Shick Ryu (CEO) and the IPK international team will provide opportunity to take stock of the progress toward a potential treatment for COVID-19, and to examine how to further optimize the Franco-Korean collaboration to help stop COVID-19.
 
The IPK R&D team has made important progress toward finding drugs to act against COVID-19
In recently published studies IPK has made significant strides in identifying candidate drug molecules for effective treatment of COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. These results place IPK at the forefront of research and development of a treatment against COVID-19. IPK is affiliated with the global network of Pasteur Institutes, the first institute being founded in Paris. This meeting with the French Ambassador will therefore be an opportunity to take stock of the IPK's ongoing work and examine how France and Korea might coordinate to further expedite these efforts toward therapeutics.
 
Philippe Lefort will salute the remarkable work carried out by the Pasteur Institute of Korea, which is an essential player, not only in scientific cooperation between France and Korea, but also in international cooperation in the fight against COVID- 19, and any other emerging infectious diseases.

Complete program:
 
8:30 am: Welcome and welcome speech by Dr. Ryu, CEO of IPK
 
8:45 am: Update on the IPK's advances in the discovery of potential treatments against COVID-19
Prospects for emerging viral diseases
 
9:00 am: Visit to the Institut Pasteur Korea (molecular screening platform, automated imaging platform, chemistry library)
 
9:25 am: Speech by the Office of R&D Policy Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT
 
9:30 am: Speech by the Ambassador of France to Korea
 
9:45 am: Questions and Answers