The EU Research and Innovation programme HORIZON 2020 has awarded a contract worth up to 3 million euro’s to a European consortium led by ErasmusMC in collaboration with Harbour Antibodies BV to develop a monoclonal antibody against SARS-CoV 2.
This project “MANCO” aims at the development of contributing to the rapid international public health preparedness and response against the novel coronavirus SARS CoV 2 that emerged in China at the end of 2019. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by this newly discovered coronavirus SARS CoV 2.
Most people infected with the SARS CoV 2 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.
At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19.
Lessons learned and intervention efforts against SARS coronavirus (CoV), MERS-CoV and other emerging viruses provide invaluable information to accelerate the coordinated response against SARS-CoV 2 and the rapid development and manufacture of new diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic intervention strategies for COVID 19. A much-promising approach to both patient management of emerging viral infections and to better preparedness and response to emerging epidemics is the use of monoclonal antibodies. The consortium aims at contributing to the rapid international response against COVID 19, through preclinical and clinical evaluation of monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV 2.
In this consortium 8 partners have joined to develop a monoclonal antibody against Sars-CoV 2. As one of the partners CR2O BV will coordinate the phase I clinical trial and assume the role of the sponsor of the clinical trial.
