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In response the novel coronavirus emergency, the International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) has activated its Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) for emerging infections in England and Scotland.

Coronavirus close-up © Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

The Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) was prepared for just such an emergency. It provides an ethically approved framework for enrolling patients to a clinical study which will offer new insights into this emerging global threat.

The CCP facilitates the collection of standardised clinical data and samples on patients hospitalised with suspected or confirmed infection with novel coronavirus. This will inform the outbreak response and patient care, not just in the UK but internationally. With novel coronavirus patients now identified in the UK, the UK health research community is well-prepared to advance our understanding of this disease.

The Chief Investigator for the UK CCP is Professor Calum Semple at the University of Liverpool. The development of the CCP was led by Dr Kenneth Baillie at the University of Edinburgh. The CCP study is sponsored by the University of Oxford and ISARIC’s Global Support Centre is hosted by the University of Oxford. ISARIC’s Members have developed the CCP over a number of years.

The CCP is supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and is now open to enrolment in NHS Trusts, including the network of high-containment clinical facilities where patients with novel coronavirus will be admitted in the early stages of the disease in the UK.

ISARIC logoISARIC is a global federation of clinical research networks, providing a proficient, coordinated, and agile research response to outbreak-prone infectious diseases. ISARIC’s mission is to generate and disseminate clinical research evidence for outbreak-prone infectious diseases, whenever and wherever they occur.

ISARIC is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the UK Department for International Development, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.