- The university is undertaking the most advanced project to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus
- The donation was made possible by the “Ferrovial Together COVID-19” fund, which to date has distributed €7.22 million to help fight the pandemic.
As part of its firm commitment to fighting the pandemic, Ferrovial has donated half a million euro to the University of Oxford. The institution, renowned worldwide for biomedical and clinical research and teaching, is conducting one of the most advanced projects to develop a vaccine to combat the coronavirus.
The contribution, which was made possible by the company’s “Ferrovial Together COVID-19” fund, will enable the University of Oxford’s Medical Sciences Division to continue research into combating this virus. To date, six ChAdOx1 vaccines against a number of diseases have been tested in humans.
The university is advancing rapidly with clinical trials of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, which uses unique technology that can produce a good immune response with a single dose. Research into a COVID-19 vaccine is proving successful with a program of one and two doses. Other advantages of this technology are that it can be manufactured relatively quickly on a large scale and that it can generate potent antibodies.
ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is one of the leading to serve as a vaccine to combat the pandemic. Trials with this vaccine might be completed this coming Fall.
A commitment to fighting COVID-19
This donation is one of many initiatives taken by the company since the pandemic commenced. It is also part of Ferrovial’s commitment to combating the coronavirus, for which it established the “Ferrovial Together COVID-19” fund. To date, it has distributed €7.22 million to institutions working to combat the pandemic in the social and healthcare dimensions and in research, in Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Chile and Portugal.
In addition to the half million euro donated to the University of Oxford, it allocated €250,000 for two vaccine projects at Spain’s National Centre for Biotechnology, which is part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and €150,000 to Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas, which is working to develop a vaccine that modifies the virus proteins.
In the social dimension, Ferrovial has donated close to €3.165 million to prestigious institutions in this field. They include Caritas, CESAL and World Vision in Spain; The Trussell Trust food banks in the UK; a number of food banks in the United States; Techo, in Chile; and the Portuguese Red Cross. This aid covers around 90,000 people, enabling the distribution of 1,350,000 meals.
The company has allocated close to €3.16 million in the medical field to purchase 800,000 FFP2 masks, 90,000 diagnostic tests, 90 respirators, and other medical and personal protective equipment, for donation to Spanish regional governments, including Madrid, Valencia, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, Catalonia, Cantabria and the Canary Islands. Part of this item will be allocated to other countries where the company operates, such as the United Kingdom, Chile and Portugal.
