CSU researchers rapidly developing treatments, drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 – Source

Convalescent plasma

Plasma from those who have recovered from COVID can be used to treat those who have yet to get disease or are early in their disease progression. The plasma contains neutralizing antibodies that can boost a persons immune system to fight the virus. A team of investigators including Ray Goodrich, CSUs executive director of the Infectious Disease Institute and Heather Pidcoke, CSUs chief medical research officer, are collaborating on a project to study the efficacy and potential methods to improve the safety of this repurposed plasma treatment as part of planning for potential clinical trials.

The antibodies in convalescent plasma are specifically made to find the virus and take it out. We are studying pathogen reduction methods that may lower the chance of accidentally giving someone COVID-19 or another infection without meaning to, Pidcoke said. Ultimately we want to protect healthcare workers and other high-risk people from getting sick if they are exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19.

The FDA has already approved a number of individual drugs to treat patients showing symptoms of COVID-19 but use of those drugs in new combinations requires additional approval. CSU researchers have established the use of vero cells to screen cocktails of approved drugs to accelerate the approval process.

CSU researchers have initiated projects with at least six industry partners details to be announced shortly to quickly move these combination drug products toward FDA approval.

A lot of industries are limited with how they can work with the virus, said Rushika Perera, an associate professor of virology who is leading the project to repurpose approved drugs for COVID treatment. They need to partner with CSU to do this research. We have the expertise, labs and physical space.

Vaccines can offer long term protection from COVID-19 and CSU has two vaccine candidates in development.

Solavax repurposes a commercial platform that is currently used to inactivate pathogens in blood transfusions. The strategy uses light and riboflavin to produce an inactivated virus which stimulates a persons immune system to fight the virus.

We are building off of nearly 20 years of experience of using this process to improve the safety of blood transfusion products. That prior knowledge and current experience helps to translate this rapidly into a way to manufacture vaccine products, said Goodrich.

Another vaccine project underway would use a genetically modified form of the common probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus to avert infection by the novel coronavirus. The concept of this work, led by Gregg Dean, head of CSUs Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, starts with a microorganism that thrives in the mucous membrane exactly where the new coronavirus attacks the body. The vaccine would interrupt attachment of the virus to host cells at two key junctures, sites that amount to the Achilles heel of the virus, Dean said.

Were fortunate to have such a depth and breadth of expertise in infectious disease here at CSU, he said. Investigators are working on vaccines, on antiviral therapies, on diagnostic strategies, and on how we can inactivate the virus on surfaces. Were trying to tackle this problem from every angle we can.

Go here to read the rest:

CSU researchers rapidly developing treatments, drugs and vaccines for COVID-19 - Source