About COVID-19 work at IDDO
When COVID-19 emerged, we responded fast to create trusted, shareable evidence for the world’s infectious disease research communities. We built the world’s largest repository of COVID-19 individual participant data (IPD), launched a global mapping review of COVID-19 research activity, and produced medicine quality reports used by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other regulators to guide responses during the pandemic.
Why we built the platform
The world’s scientific community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented amounts of data, but this data was inconsistent and scattered across several studies. We designed our interoperable, open-access platform to turn fragmented data into robust insight that could inform care, policy, and future pandemic preparedness.
What we did: Pooled data for discovery
Partnering with ISARIC, we created a global COVID-19 clinical database with over 500,000 harmonised individual patient datasets, powering over 20 IPD meta-analyses, deepening understanding of COVID-19’s progression, treatment, and outcomes. Data freely available to non-profit researchers, including through Vivli.
What we did: Mapped the global research landscape
The IDDO COVID-19 mapping review tracks and visualises all registered COVID-19 studies worldwide, revealing research trends, gaps, and equity issues. Most studies originated in higher-income countries, despite the burden being greater in lower- and middle-income nations. We co-founded the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition (CERCLE) and joined the ANTICOV clinical trial platform to expand evidence from low-resource settings.
What we did: Monitored Medicine Quality
The pandemic’s intense demand for COVID-19 medicines increased the risk of substandard and falsified (SF) products. IDDO collates and analyses public data on medicine quality, producing monthly reports used by WHO and other regulators to monitor and mitigate this global health threat.
How we work
Our data platform is governed by an independent Data Access Committee, chaired by TDR (the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases), and is open to non-profit researchers worldwide. We work through transparent partnerships, promoting equitable collaboration, responsible data use, and research capacity strengthening in low- and middle-income countries.
IDDO is a registered re3data.org repository.
Our COVID-19 partners
IDDO collaborates with a global network of scientists, clinicians, and organisations to accelerate learning, enhance research quality, and maximise public health impact.
- CDISC: Partnered with IDDO to rapidly develop the COVID-19 Interim Therapeutic Area User Guide, standardising clinical data for sharing and analysis.
- COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition (CERCLE): IDDO is a founding member; our Director, Professor Philippe Guérin, serves on the steering committee. The coalition promotes open access to clinical trial protocols and addresses key research gaps in resource-limited settings.
- CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory (CDRC): A partnership with the Critical Path Institute, FDA, and NIH, building on the CURE ID platform. Together, we’re automating data extraction from electronic health records to identify repurposed treatment opportunities.
- Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): Collaborating on COVID-19 response and the ANTICOV clinical trial platform.
- Exaptive: Provides Cognitive City technology powering the COVID-19 data platform inventory and living systematic review interface.
- ISARIC: A founding partner of the platform, enabling large-scale global collaboration on clinical data collection and analysis.
- MORU Tropical Health Network: Partnering on the COPCOV trial, studying preventive treatments for healthcare workers.
- Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM): Collaborating through the CURE Drug Repurposing Collaboratory and VIRUS COVID-19 Registry, pooling data from up to 300 sites.
- TDR (WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases): Chairs the Data Access Committee and supports capacity strengthening in lower-resource settings.
- University of Cape Town (UCT): Partnering on COVID-19 pharmacology and clinical trial research, and a key member of the CERCLE working group on drug candidates.
- Vivli: Hosts IDDO’s COVID-19 study records to increase the visibility and reach of shared data.
- WHO GOARN: IDDO is part of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, linking over 250 technical institutions worldwide.
Stay connected
Keep up to date with our COVID-19 work and other IDDO data platforms by subscribing to our newsletter, or contact us at info@iddo.org.