Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited has committed to donating 500 million yen (around €4.35 million) in support of a global initiative launched by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help countries combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial contribution from one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms will enable the IAEA to increase its emergency assistance to Member States, which need quick and reliable diagnostic methods to contain the virus causing the potentially deadly disease. So far, 119 countries have sought the IAEA’s assistance in using a nuclear-derived technique known as real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real time RT-PCR), which makes it possible to identify the virus accurately within hours.