President Reuven Rivlin and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett visited the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) and shown the various new developments the IIBR is working on to produce treatments for COVID-19, Rivlin’s office reported in a press release on Thursday.
Rivlin was shown by the scientists present how the IIBR was able to develop antibodies that help patients combat COVID-19. He asked Bennett and those present to promote the opening of a factory producing possible vaccinations against coronavirus in the southern city of Yeruham.
“Independence in Biological [research] is essential to the state of Israel,” Rivlin said. "From my conversations with world leaders, the thing that surfaces is that when the issue is innovation, they look to us.” He thanked the scientists and called them “the splendor of Israel.”
Bennett said that this is another major Israeli breakthrough that will enable humanity to treat not just coronavirus, but possibly mutations of it as well.“We will not spare money, or efforts to shorten the time needed to create a commercially available cure,” he said.