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Humanity has turned its attention to vaccinating the world’s population in anticipation of a rapid transition to the post-Covid-19 era, but hope is often taken where no one expects it: in small laboratories, with limited means, the Greek scientists conduct groundbreaking research. find a drug that provides effective treatment in patients with Covid-19.
The scientific team of the Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Unit of the Hematology Department of the “Georgios Papanikolaou” Hospital in Thessaloniki has developed a promising “live” drug, intended to treat patients with severe coronavirus with a simple transfusion. The researchers are now seeking the necessary funding for the second phase of their study, targeting society through crowdfunding.
The innovative therapeutic approach they propose turns into “drugs” in living cells of the body, which have been “trained” to recognize SARS-CoV-2. Once administered, as “living medicines” they can now multiply in the body as soon as they detect the virus and as a “strong army” they can naturally eradicate infected cells from the patient.
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The idea is based on the administration of T lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s natural defenses, a key component in the treatment of viral infections. The team at the “G. Papanikolaou” Hospital has been developing a cellular product for three years, approved by the National Transplant Organization, which successfully administers 90% to transplant patients when they have serious infections with three specific viruses. This knowledge is now being tested with encouraging results in severe SARS-CoV-2 infections.
The results
As explained to “NEA” by the head of the effort and director of the Unit, Achilleas Anagnostopoulos, “from the first phase of the study, the laboratory, we found that patients who are mildly ill with Covid-19 and recover produce a large amount of lymphocytes T by themselves, while those who do not have a good course do not develop such cells, as a result of which they develop serious infections and some lose their lives. Two collaborators of the Unit, Anastasia Papadopoulou, biochemist and specialist in cell therapies, that in fact participated in the team at the University of Houston that first developed T-cell therapies, and the hematologist Evangelia Giannaki, head of the Unit, suggested that we analyze T lymphocytes in patients with Covid-19. And so we did. We take part of the blood of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus, we multiply these few T lymphocytes contained in their blood in the laboratory, we test them and we found that they are very effective and functional in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. That is why we want to move on to the second phase of the study, the clinic, during which we will administer these T lymphocytes to patients with the special materials necessary for safety reasons ”. Specifically, Anagnostopoulos continues, “we propose the creation of a bank of specific T lymphocytes from 20 recovering donors and their administration as T-cell immunotherapy to 70-90 patients classified as high-risk Covid-19”.
But this requires funding: the first phase of the research was covered by the Institute of Applied Life Sciences – CERTH. At present, no funding program for the submission of research studies has been announced, while the fight against SARS-CoV-2 is at a very critical stage and time is running out.
The study budget amounts to 230,000 euros for the standardization of the process under GMP conditions, the creation of a bank of specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 cell products, the purchase of GMP grade peptides of SARS-COV-2, cytokines, nutrients, flow cytometry antibodies, bioreactors, consumables and for the costs of HLA histocompatibility tests, insurance policy and study follow-up. As it was learned yesterday, part of the estimated costs will be covered by the “Georgios Papanikolaou” Hospital, but Achilleas Anagnostopoulos appeals to the citizens to complete the amount. “A special bank account has been opened at Piraeus Bank with IBAN GR42 0171 2150 0062 1514 9098 00. Time is more than valuable, so we turn to you with hope,” he says, adding: “We wish, at the extremely difficult time of the pandemic, participate with all the strength and knowledge we have in the search for an effective treatment against the new coronavirus ”.
It is worth noting that the preparation of an effective drug against Covid-19 is considered vital throughout the world. According to experts, vaccination alone is not enough to eradicate the disease, while large groups of the population, such as pregnant women, children and in some cases patients with a history of allergies, will be excluded, at least in the first phase, of the administration. vaccine. According to forecasts, it will take many months, if not years, for the entire population of Earth to be properly vaccinated, and by then human lives will have been lost. SARS-CoV-2 entered our lives to stay and we must strengthen ourselves in every way against it.
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