FONDATION MERIEUX

Their core work

Fondation Mérieux is a Lyon-based global health foundation that combats infectious diseases in developing countries through diagnostics, biological resource management, and epidemic preparedness. They operate and coordinate virus archives, support global research coordination for infectious disease outbreaks, and contribute to early detection of diseases like liver cancer and hepatitis. Their work bridges laboratory infrastructure (virus collections, reference materials) with field-level public health response, particularly in low-resource settings.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Early H2020 work (2014-2017) centered on building infectious disease infrastructure — virus collections, outbreak detection platforms, and reference materials through EVAg and COMPARE. From 2016 onward, the focus shifted toward epidemic preparedness and response coordination (ZikaPLAN, GloPID-R), and expanded into chronic disease diagnostics in developing countries (COCLICAN). The consistent thread is global health security, but the scope broadened from laboratory infrastructure to strategic coordination and disease-specific interventions.

Moving from behind-the-scenes infrastructure provider toward a strategic coordinator role in global epidemic preparedness and response networks.

How they like to work

Fondation Mérieux operates in both coordinator and partner roles, having led 2 of their 7 projects — notably the two largest by budget (GloPID-R Secretariat phases). As a partner, they typically join large international consortia, with 92 unique partners across 27 countries indicating an exceptionally broad network. Their coordination of the GloPID-R Secretariat — a network-of-networks — signals they are trusted as neutral, convening organizations rather than competitive research players.

Exceptionally well-connected with 92 unique consortium partners spanning 27 countries, reflecting their role as a global health convener. Their network stretches well beyond Europe into Latin America and developing regions, consistent with their mission focus.

What sets them apart

Fondation Mérieux occupies a rare niche as a private, non-profit foundation with both hands-on laboratory capability (virus archives, diagnostics) and high-level coordination authority (running the GloPID-R global secretariat). Unlike university labs or public health agencies, they operate independently across borders with credibility in both research and field deployment. For consortium builders, they bring a trusted neutral brand, deep developing-country networks, and the ability to bridge laboratory science with public health response.

Highlights from their portfolio

• GlOPID-R-Sec
  Largest single grant (EUR 1.76M) — coordinated the global secretariat for infectious disease research preparedness, a network-of-networks role with high strategic visibility.
• ZikaPLAN
  Rapid-response participation in the 2016 Zika public health emergency, building a Latin American research preparedness network across multiple disciplines.
• EVA-GLOBAL
  Continuation of the European Virus Archive into a truly global infrastructure, demonstrating long-term commitment to biological resource sharing.