On May 25th 2020, Saint-Gobain, a French multinational corporation specialized in the production of building material, made a donation pledge to the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IPS-CAS). The substantial contribution of 600,000 RMB was assembled by Saint-Gobain’s employees and will be donated to IPS to cover SARS-CoV-2 studies.
IPS’s COVID-19 taskforce will focus on the tracking of the transmission/spillover of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and the discovery of novel pathogens with pandemic potential already circulating in animal species endemic to Southeast Asia. Saint-Gobain’s charitable envelope will help fund equipment, reagents and consumables, as well as fees generated for missions and trainings.
On behalf of IPS-CAS, Director General Prof. TANG Hong, Scientific Co-Director Prof. Fernando ARENZANA, along with several of IPS’s Principal Investigators, expressed their warmest thanks and gratitude to Saint-Gobain. Senior VP & CEO Asia-Pacific of Saint-Gobain, Javier GIMENO, and his delegation are invited to visit IPS before the official donation ceremony at the French Consul General Residence in Shanghai.
Representatives of the French Consulate General in Shanghai, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, Saint-Gobain and IPS-CAS attended the donation ceremony together.
