Project description
Therapeutic antibodies against the new coronavirus
For any viral disease, vaccination is the only solution for robust and long-term effective protection, and vaccines generally take time to be developed. However, the rapid spread of the current COVID-19 pandemic necessitates immediate treatment solutions. The scope of the EU-funded CoroNAb project is to identify candidate antibodies with neutralising activity against 2019-nCoV and passively infuse them in patients to control infection. Researchers will design and synthesise recombinant variants of various coronavirus glycoproteins and use them to immunise experimental animals to generate antibodies against the virus. The data on anti-viral efficacy of these antibodies will be fed into computational models to forecast their intervention outcome.
Objective
Overview:
As of Feb 12th, 2020, the death toll of the 2019-nCoV (COVID-19) epidemic has surpassed 1000, rapidly eclipsing the total mortality of SARS. It has a current death rate estimate of around 2 deaths per 100 confirmed infections, is experiencing phenomenal growth in mainland China, and has the potential to spread globally over the coming months. While a vaccine may be useful for future epidemics of a similar virus, it is not clear that such a vaccine can be produced at a speed and scale sufficient to impact the current epidemic.
Objective:
Antibodies form the basis of a robust adaptive immune response to viral disease. Nearly all licensed vaccines mediate protection through the activity of antibodies and where vaccines are not available, passive infusion of monoclonal antibodies can fill the gap and control the infection. The overarching goal of the CoroNAb consortium is to rapidly identify, validate, and disseminate pre-clinical protein therapeutic candidates with neutralizing activity against 2019-nCoV, and to recommend where their use would be maximally effective.
Expected results:
Over the course of the project, we expect to design and synthesize recombinant variants of nCoV glycoproteins for immunization in mice, alpacas and macaques in order to generate and characterize multiple nCoV-neutralizing antibodies and nanobodies. We will develop efficient assays for the testing of such antibodies and exploit novel computational workflows to improve neutralizing antibody potency. Finally, we will employ mathematical modeling of the 2019-nCoV epidemic for forecasting intervention effectiveness.
Timeline:
We expect the project to deliver a number of nCoV neutralizing anti- and nanobodies of increasing potency over a 2 year period from start date.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.1. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3.1.3. - Treating and managing disease
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SC1-PHE-CORONAVIRUS-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
171 77 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.