disease
the disease
The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a virus first identified in humans in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. By the end of January 2020 as the outbreak continued to spread outside China, the WHO declared a global emergency. On the 11 March 2020, the Director General of the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
The virus causing COVID-19 is part of a large family of coronaviruses which are known to cause disease in both humans and animals. In humans, several coronaviruses from the common cold, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cause respiratory infections.
In February 2020, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) named the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19 the “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)”. This name shows that, while the virus is genetically related to the SARS coronavirus of 2003, the two viruses are not the same. To avoid unwanted confusion or fear, especially in areas previously affected by SARS, the WHO currently refers to the novel coronavirus as the virus responsible for COVID-19” or “the COVID-19 virus”.
The source of SARS-CoV-2 is yet unknown although evidence suggests that it is not man-made but zoonotic in origin probably coming from bats.
COVID-19 causes flu-like respiratory illness with symptoms such as a dry cough, fever, and in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. Most people (around 85-90%) with Covid-19 do not need hospital treatment. However, in around 5% of people who get COVID-19, severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome can develop, requiring hospitalization, or intensive care and it can result in death. The majority of deaths have occurred among adults over 60 years old and those with serious underlying health conditions like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes. According to available preliminary data, the average time from onset to clinical recovery is approximately 2 weeks for mild cases and 3-6 weeks for severe cases. However, lasting damage to the heart, kidneys, lungs and brain may result from the disease and Covid-19 can sometimes result in prolonged illness even in young and otherwise healthy patients.
The incubation period, i.e. time between initial contamination and the appearance of the first symptoms, can take between 2 to 14 days. The virus is mainly spread by droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, talks or sings and also when a person touches a contaminated surface or object then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth. Research investigating the possibility of airborne transmission and transmission through biological samples is still in progress. The only way to reduce infection from COVID-19 is through prevention, i.e. social distancing, wearing masks and proper, regular hand hygiene.
In the EU, recently three vaccines were approved. National immunization campaigns have started and the vaccines of Biontech/Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca are now in use. More candidates are under clinical investigation.
Never so much progress was made within a few months in fighting an emerging disease.
looking back on 2020 - our insight of the week - December 29, 2020
photo courtesy kENUP / stilistica.design
During 2020, within just a few months, scientists could do what would usually have taken years: they found solutions against a disease that has taken the life of far more than a million people and that staggered the global economy. Crucial to this were not only the efforts of tireless researchers but also the links to those who had the funds to back them up.
During the pandemic kENUP Foundation has collaborated with 21 COVID-19 related projects and assisted them in getting the financial support that they need. Among them are projects trying to provide the most radical solution to the crisis: vaccines.
Everyone is looking at vaccines as the main component for resolving the COVID-19 pandemic. At kENUP we strongly believe in the power of vaccines and strive to support innovative SMEs with a strong research background throughout their development process.’ said Holm Keller, Chairman kENUP Foundation.
photo courtesy kENUP / stilistica.design
Eleven months after the World Health Organization had been informed of a “pneumonia of unknown cause” detected in Wuhan City, 246 days after the COVID-19 outbreak had been declared a pandemic, Stanley Erck, CEO of Novavax, announced that the enrollment for a Phase 3 vaccine trial in the UK had been completed. Erck spoke about “unprecedented speed”. And said that the company was in a leading position to contribute to the need for vaccines that will “ultimately end the pandemic”.
Two vaccine candidates initially supported by kENUP were soon acquired by big pharmaceutical companies. V591, formerly known by COVAX and developed by Themis Bioscience in Vienna, was sold to Merck. AZD122
which had been developed under the name ChadOx1 at Oxford University, was acquired by AstraZeneca (a Phase 3 trial is ongoing).
NVX-CoV2373, the vaccine candidate developed by Novavax, a recombinant nanoparticle vaccine candidate using Matrix-M™ adjuvant, was also considered promising from the very start of the pandemic. In May it became the fourth candidate to receive grants from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) receiving 388 Million U.S. Dollars. It also received 1,6 Billion Dollars from the U.S. government’s “Operation Warp Speed” and 15 Million Dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With phase 3 trials ongoing, a number of factors suggest NVX-CoV2373 may turn out a success. Not only is it based on already proven methods, but the vaccine can also be distributed through standard cold chain. And Novavax might be able to combine the COVID-19 and the influenza vaccine for use after the pandemic.
Hope for a solution to the disastrous health crisis is rising also in other parts of the world. In Italy, biotech firm ReiThera recently announced that – according to preliminary results from an ongoing Phase I study – its vaccine candidate GRAd-COV2
is well tolerated and induced significant immune response in volunteers. Further trials of the vaccine candidate based on a simian adenoviral vector encoding the coronavirus spike protein are expected to begin soon.
In India, the Serum Institute of India is developing COVIVAXX, one of five vaccine candidates. A Phase 3 trial is planned to be conducted in India and Europe in the first half of 2021. The vaccine is expected to be released in the EU.
The worldwide demand for a COVID-19 vaccine is high. But so are risk and uncertainty in develop-ment. That’s why scientists keep emphasizing the need for a variety of approaches. And for vaccines that not only benefit the strongest economies.
Some innovative vaccine development projects are thinking beyond what’s needed to fight against COVID-19 in the short-term. Takis Biotech’s COVID-eVax
may prove to be an affordable and widespread solution in the battle against the disease. Its “precision medicine vaccine” approach is designed to target only a portion of the virus’ spike protein and thereby avoids possible side effects. This vaccine based on DNA can be produced in large biofermenters making it cheap to produce. Moreover, it would also be stable at room temperature and easily transferable to other viruses or mutations of the coronavirus. The company’s approach includes a technology called Electro-Gene-Transfer (EGT): It involves a device that not only injects the vaccine but also creates an electromagnetic field that allows the DNA to enter the patient’s muscle fiber and produce the small fragment of the coronavirus protein. Phase 3 trials for COVID-eVax are planned for July 2021.
photo courtesy kENUP / stilistica.design
OraCov, a vaccine candidate jointly developed by U.S. company Sanaria and the University of Tübing-en, Germany, takes an alternative approach that may lead to a second generation of COVID-19 vaccines. OraCov is designed to be self-administered – by dissolving it into a glass and swallowing it. It could be stored and shipped at room temperature. Which is why even people in remote parts of the world, people with only basic facilities, could have access to this vaccine. If and when clinical trials will start has yet to be decided.
An entirely new platform for vaccine development has been taking shape in Barcelona. The vaccine candidate Exocovac
by Innovex Therapeutics is based on exosomes: Extracellular vesicles that act as shuttles for genetic information. The innovative idea: viral peptides found in exosomes from COVID-19 patients may induce long-lasting immunity. The concept has yet to be proved in a preclinical trial with humanized mouse models – but with financial support Innovex may move on to clinical trials in Summer 2021. Exocovac is in the process of applying for funding through the EU Malaria Fund.
Eventually, VPM 1002
could be a solution that had been there all along. It started as a Tuberculosis vaccine but may prove to have significant effects against COVID-19. Developed by Serum Institute of India, Bilthoven Biologicals and Vakzine Projekt Management, in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, VPM 1002 could be a perfect intermediate vaccine for people at risk. The researchers believe that, as an immune stimulus, it strengthens the immune system and reduces the severity and the duration of COVID-19. Last August, the European Investment Bank (EIB) backed VPM1002 with an investment of 30 Million Euros.
Aside from vaccine developers kENUP Foundation has been collaborating with partners that focus on the other aspects of eliminating Covid: testing and therapy.
In April, the EIB signed a finance contract on the provision of 50 Million Euros for PLX-PAD, a human placenta based therapy candidate for the treatment of severe pneumonia.
In June, the EU Malaria Fund approved to finance parts of the development of mAbCo19, a prophylactic and therapeutic candidate based on selectively identified B cells of people that had been infected with COVID-19.
On December 17, EIB announced a €50M facility for the manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
in Sub-Saharan Africa.
And on December 18, Cape Biologix
has been granted a loan worth €33.3M by the EIB and a €3.2M grant by FIND for its plant-based protein production platform.
The pandemic is a catastrophe. But since it draws attention to the importance of research and development in the health sector it is a chance to support projects that help overcome or prevent similar crises in the future.
December 29, 2020 by kENUP