The project of the first "Organic Bank" on covid-19 is underway, carried out by the University of Milan and Asst Fatebenefratelli Sacco and financed thanks to a donation of over 800 thousand euros from Banco BPM.
The biological bank will be built at the Sacco hospital and will collect all biological, blood and tissue samples related to Covid -19. A project that will allow the development and study of diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, including the long-awaited vaccine. "The intervention is completed by the enhancement of the technological platform for the storage and supply of liquid oxygen serving the Sacco hospital", underlines the note from the two health facilities, among the most committed to the fight against the coronavirus.
The Biological Bank will be managed thanks to the know-how of the professors and researchers of the University of Milan and will be built in a space located in the basement of Pavilion 62, in the area of the Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan.
In detail, the project involves the construction of:
– a room dedicated to the acceptance of samples;
– a Biobank room that will house over time up to over 18 cryogenic containers;
– a freezer room, also intended for the conservation of materials;
– a local technological systems serving the Biobank;
– a technical area for the installation of the nitrogen tank serving the biological bank.
"This project is part of the many initiatives implemented by Banco BPM in favor of the country in this health emergency - explains Giuseppe Castagna, CEO of Banco BPM - and is particularly important because it is focused on scientific research, a fundamental activity for looking to the future. As a bank strongly rooted in the territories, and at the same time attentive to the excellence of our country, we are pleased to have contributed to such a far-reaching project alongside the Sacco Hospital and the University of Milan".
Commented the Rector of the State University of Milan Elio Franzini: “We are very grateful to Banco BPM for this generous donation: the Covid 19 Bio Bank will allow new and important opportunities for scientific research on the virus. The researchers of the State University, already engaged in this battle on several fronts, will make the multidisciplinary richness of the study areas present in the university available to this project, continuing to network with the clinical excellence represented by the Sacco Hospital.”
