LUMC involved in development of novel drugs to treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses
The Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is researching antiviral drugs that could treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 in various projects. One part of the PanCoroNed project is being led by Martijn van Hemert and involves lab tests into the antiviral effect of molecules that were developed in Nijmegen.
PanCoroNed has received a 1.2m grant from the Life Sciences & Health Top Sector (Health~Holland). In this project, the LUMC is working with researchers from Radboud University, Utrecht University, Protinhi Therapeutics and Avivia. The aim is to design, synthesise and test the efficacy of new protease inhibitors. The researchers are looking for molecules that inhibit various coronaviruses, so these can be used to prevent SARS-CoV-2 and potential novel coronaviruses in the future.
Alongside vaccines, it is important to develop antiviral drugs for coronavirus. The researchers are looking for molecules that could inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. The molecules are researched in Nijmegen before being tested on SARS-Cov-2 in Leiden. For the Leiden part of the research, 223,000 euros have been set aside.
Read more about the research on the Health~Holland website.
The project has been awarded funding with a PPS (public-private partnership) premium that has been made available by Health~Holland, Life Sciences & Health Top Sector for public-private partnerships.