Institut Pasteur & Brazil: scientific cooperation in full flow

Deep roots in the Brazilian scientific landscape

Over the years, the Institut Pasteur has developed partnerships in Brazil that have grown in scale and trust. The institute's presence in the Amazon basin dates back to 1940, when the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane was founded. For over eight decades, it has been working in close collaboration with the Brazilian health authorities on the border between French Guiana and Brazil on vital issues such as wastewaters, and vector-borne diseases including malaria and dengue. This local cooperation is now pursued through the Franco-Brazilian Center for Amazonian Biodiversity (CFBBA), which was relaunched in March 2024 during a visit to Brazil by French President Macron, with priority areas clarified during an annual meeting in Cayenne in April 2025 to include functional ecology, biodiversity, the One Health approach and bioeconomics.

Other ties have been formalized at institutional level. Building on Louis Pasteur's historic friendship with Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II, links between the Institut Pasteur and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Brazil and Latin America's leading public health institute, have grown ever stronger since the signing of their first cooperation agreement in 2004. In 2010, Fiocruz joined the Pasteur Network, reinforcing a new chapter in its long-lasting a solid relationship of trust. At the same time, the University of São Paulo (USP) came on board as a major academic partner, particularly within the fields of virology, neuroscience and emerging diseases. These institutions joined forces to conduct joint research projects, train young scientists, and share valuable expertise on infectious and tropical diseases.

In 2015, this cooperation reached a further key milestone with the signing of a tripartite agreement between the USP, Fiocruz and the Institut Pasteur. This initiative funded two-year research projects involving one team from each institution. The agreement led to two key partnerships: one involving the founding of the Pasteur-Fiocruz Center for Immunology and Immunotherapy in Fortaleza in the state of Ceará and the other leading to the creation of a USP-Pasteur platform in São Paulo, which went on to become the Institut Pasteur de São Paolo in 2024.

The Pasteur-Fiocruz Center for Immunology and Immunotherapy

In 2024, the Institut Pasteur and Fiocruz celebrated the founding of their very first binational center, the Pasteur-Fiocruz Center for Immunology and Immunotherapy (CPFII), hosted on the Fiocruz-Ceará campus in Fortaleza, north-eastern Brazil.

SIts mission is to speed up immunology research to develop innovative immunotherapies (CAR-T cells, monoclonal antibodies, nanobodies) with three key areas of application: cancer, neglected and emerging infectious diseases, and autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

In addition to its scientific efforts, the CPFII pursues regional ambitions of becoming a driver of innovation and research development in the state of Ceará. To support these efforts, Fonds Équipe France funding has been granted by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs to set up the Translational Immunology and Applied Immunotherapy Research Consortium for research on infectious and emerging diseases (CRITIA MIE) and a dedicated biobank. A further agreement between the Federal University of Ceará, Fiocruz and the Institut Pasteur in March 2025 provided new opportunities for the CPFII to expand its operations through access to a pool of talent and additional infrastructure including an animal facility.

From platform to Institut Pasteur de São Paulo

In 2017, the University of São Paulo and the Institut Pasteur embarked on a strategic collaboration that has gradually grown in scale. The value of this partnership became clear during the COVID-19 crisis, when diagnostic and sequencing capabilities were rolled out in a remarkably complementary and responsive manner. Drawing on this experience, the partnership sets its sights on a more ambitious goal. In March 2023, the Institut Pasteur de São Paulo (IPSP) was officially launched. It was inaugurated by the French President one year later on March 27, 2024, giving it full autonomy.

The IPSP, a Pasteur Network member based on the campus of the University of São Paulo, has state-of-the-art infrastructure and multidisciplinary expertise rooted in the One Health approach. Its mission is to address the public health challenges linked to climate and environmental change. To that end, its work is organized around four key strategic areas: biodiversity and pathogen discovery, vector-borne diseases, neuroscience and translational medicine. The IPSP now hosts three 4-year research groups (G4), a sign that the institution is already a vibrant scientific hub.

PRISME-Brazil: bringing together French and Brazilian research institutes

Moving beyond an institutional perspective, efforts are currently underway to foster a more coherent French-Brazilian research ecosystem. This is the goal pursued by PRISME France-Brazil, an international research platform for global health bringing together key French stakeholders already present in Brazil (Inserm, ANRS-MIE, IRD, the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Institut Pasteur de la Guyane) in partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Health and Ministry of Science and Technology, Fiocruz, and the Brazilian research funding agency (CNPq).

Its aim is for French and Brazilian teams to join forces to design and deliver collaborative global health research projects, organize joint scientific events, and develop training. The official signing of PRISME France-Brazil took place in early October 2025 in Fortaleza, marking a new milestone in the bilateral cooperation.

Sanofi, Fiocruz and the Institut Pasteur: a trio promoting global health

The latest development in French-Brazilian cooperation took the form of a tripartite agreement on a dual-purpose project signed between Sanofi, Fiocruz and the Institut Pasteur on June 5 and 6, 2025 to mark Brazilian President Lula's visit to Paris. 

In industrial terms, this seeks to secure Brazil's supplies of pediatric vaccines through joint production of a hexavalent vaccine with Fiocruz, combined with technology transfer and sharing of responsible production expertise (the vaccine's carbon footprint has already been reduced by 50% since 2017).
In terms of research and development, the agreement provides a framework for multiannual collaboration, combining the three institutions' expertise around a joint vaccinology project, in keeping with Fiocruz's public health objectives. Exchanges of scientists between Fiocruz and the Institut Pasteur and regular scientific meetings will support these efforts in the long term.