Page 14 - FIMM_Brochure_2022

COOurVIImDp-a1c9t:research

The severe acute respiratory syndrome corona-
virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus emerged at the end
of 2019 and spread rapidly across the world,
with the WHO declaring a global pandemic in
March 2020. As the COVID-19 pandemic pre-
sented increasing public health challenges,
scientists from around the world worked
together to better understand the SARS-CoV-2
virus and most effectively treat COVID-19.

We, at FIMM, acknowledged the global essentiality of COV-
ID-19 research and contributed our researchers’ expertise,
technology and time to help to beat the pandemic. New
research projects were initiated at FIMM and with collabora-
tors, in particular with University of Helsinki research groups
working at the Meilahti medical campus, Helsinki University
Hospital and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.

What we have learned in our research on SARS-CoV-2 and
COVID-19 and our service toward the greater community are
lessons clearly transferrable to the study of many infectious
diseases, beyond the current pandemic.

FIMM Technology Infrastructure
and Expertise

The FIMM Technology Centre has demonstrated its agility and
problem-solving capacity in multiple ways during the COVID-19
pandemic. For example, our Genomics Unit has joined forces
with a team of virologists at the University of Helsinki and op-
timised the SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing process for
the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the public health
authority in Finland. As of June 2022, nearly 51,000 SARS-Cov-2
samples have been sequenced at FIMM.

Furthermore, with financial support from the international
Covid-19 Host Genetics Initiative led by FIMM researchers
and Illumina, the Genomics Unit has provided free-of-charge
genome-wide genotyping for resource-limited countries. The
High-Throughput Biomedicine Unit has set up a national drug
response-profiling platform in collaboration with several other
research teams to identify drugs that can be repurposed as
Covid-19 therapeutics. Finally, the High Content Imaging and
Analysis team has miniaturised and multiplexed a serological
test to help accelerate Covid-19 antibody testing.

14 | FIMM – Building a Bridge from Discovery to Medicine