Institut Pasteur (IP) is a non-profit private foundation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of diseases through biomedical research, education, and public health activities. A high-level technology park, composed of 13 state-of-the-art technological platforms, offers cutting-edge equipment and know-how. The IP is organised into 10 departments and recognised as a leader in infectious diseases research, and ranks as a top level institution for publication impact in the field of microbiology.
The IP’s Teaching Centre offers a high-quality training program to young French and foreign researchers through a unique combination of high-quality theoretical, analytical and technical courses and lectures. IP has the required expertise and management infrastructure as well as a large experience in coordinating and participating in EU projects to efficiently and successfully support the EVAg project. Through its international network of 32 Pasteur Institutes (RIIP), IP contributes to a better detection and control of pathogens of major concern for Human and Animal Health. Thus, the network institutes contribute to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases by research activities focusing on the main transmissible bacterial, parasitic or viral diseases and public health activities including national reference centres, World Health Organisation (WHO) collaborating centres and participation in national programmes to fight against infectious diseases.
Five public collections are hosted by Institut Pasteur and encompassed at the Centre de Ressources Biologiques de l’Institut Pasteur (CRBIP), making it one of the five richest culture collections in the world and providing access to more than 16000 bacterial strains, 750 cyanobacterial strains and 500 viruses (including viruses of risk group 3). The CRBIP activities are focused on: collection, maintenance and supply of microorganisms and research in the field of microbial biodiversity and systematic. In July 2005, the CRBIP obtained certification to become the first BRC preserving viruses of safety level 3 to be certified. The CRBIP is a member of the European Culture Collections’ Organisation (ECCO) and of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC). In addition, the National Collection of Cultures of Microorganisms (CNCM), hosted in the Institut Pasteur, has the status of International Depositary Authority under the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, securing the deposit of microorganisms according to agreements which resulted from the national and international need of a controlled preservation under a strict secrecy provision.