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A consortium formed by the University of Coimbra, the Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra and two companies, one Portuguese and the other Canadian, wants to develop an innovative therapy to eliminate the virus that causes covid-19 “in a few seconds”. Wednesday. market.
Investment of 450 thousand euros
Called FOTOVID, the project aims to eliminate the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for the covid-19 disease, “right at the main ‘doorway’ of the body, that is, in the nostrils, using photodynamic therapy”says the University of Coimbra (UC), in a note sent today to the Lusa agency.
The research, which “has just obtained 450 thousand euros of funding” from the 2020 Center Operative Program, brings together the UC in a consortium, through multidisciplinary teams from the Faculties of Science and Technology (FCTUC) and Medicine (FMUC), the Center Hospitalario y Universitário de Coimbra (CHUC) and LaserLeap, from Coimbra, which coordinates the project, and Ondine Biomedical (Canada), a world leader in antibacterial photodisinfection.
How does it work?
FOTOVID is based on “recent knowledge that SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a protein preferably present in the nasal cavities., where a reservoir of viruses responsible for the transmission of the disease and the generalization of the infection is created, ”the consortium officials report.
Thus, “the inactivation of viruses present in the nasal passages in the early stages of covid-19 disease can speed up treatment, allow only the most benign forms of the disease to manifest, and help prevent the spread of the pandemic “.
Using a nasal disinfection technology created by the project’s Canadian partner company, which is already used worldwide to eliminate multi-resistant bacteria, the consortium will develop an innovative therapy capable of killing viruses, in particular the coronavirus responsible for covid-19 .
Thus, the investigation will be “much faster and, in case of success, the placing on the market will be easier and at a reduced cost”, highlights the UC.
“This is the innovation of the project, since the technology was never applied to the inactivation of viruses”, underlines, quoted by UC, Luís Arnaut, one of the scientists involved in the research.
“We are proposing a procedure with a high degree of sophistication, which has already proven its effectiveness in disinfecting the nasal passages, even for multi-resistant bacteria where existing therapeutic alternatives always fail, that is, multi-resistant bacteria have been inactivated with photodynamic therapy. “, Explain.
“This high degree of sophistication augurs the greatest success of therapy to combat covid-19”, argues Luís Arnaut.
In practice, synthesizes the FCTUC professor, the consortium proposes “a repositioning of molecules”, that is, it uses a therapy that “is being used to destroy multi-resistant bacteria”, repositioning them to kill viruses.
Effectiveness test
the the first tests will start in October, at the UC School of Medicine, with virus samples from patients infected with COVID-19, provided by CHUC.
Later, when photodynamic inactivation of the virus is shown to be effective, clinical trials will follow (which will be coordinated by specialists Manuel Santos Rosa and José Saraiva da Cunha) with volunteer patients, predictably next year.
Photodynamic therapy is a non-invasive, fast (it can only last a few seconds) and inexpensive treatment.
Project leaders argue that this technology aims to be the first therapeutic option, eliminating the virus at a very early stage and thus preventing the disease from progressing to more serious stages.
It is a therapeutic alternative, which consists of directly attacking the entry of the virus into the body, to reduce the viral load in the place where it is most critical, sums up Luís Arnaut.
The technology “will be applied at an early stage of treatment, to avoid further complications, on an outpatient basis,” he concluded.
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