Pandemic Antiviral Discovery (PAD) is an initiative to catalyse discovery and early development of antiviral medicines for future pandemics. With equitable access as a core principle of the initiative, the founding partners are committed to ensuring that discoveries and innovations supported by PAD are accessible to people in low- and middle-income countries.
The goal of PAD is to help researchers worldwide identify and develop phase 2-ready antiviral drug candidates that target pandemic threat viruses. By focusing on small molecule drugs that can be delivered orally and are cheaper and easier for patients to access than biologic drugs, PAD aims to help ensure the world is prepared to quickly develop and equitably deploy effective, accessible antiviral treatments next time a pandemic threat emerges.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that global health security cannot be achieved in silos and will require contributions from the public and private sectors. Through PAD, the funders collaborate with governments, academic institutions, and private sector funders to de-risk promising antiviral candidates—increasing their probability of advancing to the clinical stage.
