Robust mission-driven responses to infectious disease threats delivered by the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition

Abstract

Objectives: Emerging infectious disease outbreaks present a continuous threat globally, and enhanced capacity to detect and mitigate these pathogens is urgently needed.

Design: The Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (APDC) launched in 2021 as a first of its kind global public-private partnership dedicated to early detection, characterization, and response to emerging disease threats with the mission to reduce the burden of existing epidemics and the risk of future pandemics. The APDC has the capacity to both detect emerging infectious agents and respond by rapidly developing and deploying prototype diagnostics to assist in assessing the magnitude of the threat.

Results: To date, the APDC network, with sites on 5 continents, has evaluated over 39,000 specimens from enrolled patients leading to the identification and characterization of 6 outbreaks and 23 previously unknown viruses that affect humans. The network has also trained 128 scientists in epidemiology, diagnostics, sequencing, and bioinformatics. As a result, the APDC has published 113 manuscripts, which are highlighted herein.

Conclusions: As emerging pathogens present increasing challenges to public health in a closely connected global community, the APDC is uniquely positioned to continue to serve a key role in pandemic preparedness.

Keywords: emerging pathogens; pandemic preparedness; public health; surveillance; virus discovery.