2020-05-19-Noticia-CIMA-Proyectos COVID-19

The Regional Government has granted 1.1 million to finance 8 projects of research led by Navarra on COVID-19. These are initiatives that have received the positive evaluation of the high school de Salud Carlos III but have not received funding from this organization.

Two of the projects recognized by the Government of Navarre are led by researchers from the Cima. Under the degree scroll "Predicting adverse complications of COVID-19 and the benefit from immmunomodulating therapies based on the presence of clonal hemotopoiesis", the project of Drs. Borja Sáez and Ana Pardo-Saganta aims to predict early which patients with COVID-19 will develop severe or critical disease, allowing early clinical intervention. "programs of study from our group have allowed us to observe that clonal hematopoiesis (accumulation of mutations, or errors in DNA sequence, in immune system cells that accumulate with age) is associated with chronic lung disease through an aberrant immune response similar to that occurring in patients with COVID-19. Therefore, our study aims to understand whether the presence of clonal hematopoiesis increases the risk or contributes to the development of a severe or critical clinical picture as a consequence of this exaggerated reaction of the immune system", explains Dr. Borja Sáez, researcher of the Hemato-oncology Program at Cima. The project has received 129,500 euros

On the other hand, Drs. Pablo Sarobe and Juan José Lasarte lead the project "Identification of immunogenic regions in SARS-CoV-2 proteins for the development of peptide-based vaccines". For the development of a synthetic vaccine, formed by fragments or regions of the virus (instead of inactivated or genetically modified whole viruses), it is necessary to previously identify those areas of the viral proteins recognized by T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. "The goal of our project is to generate subunit vaccines based on T epitopes and B epitopes, whose administration would induce a neutralizing antibody response that would prevent viral infection," comment researchers from the Immunology and Immunotherapy Program at Cima. The project, presented through IdiSNA, will receive 81,021 euros.

The other six projects are: "design of optimized immunogens for vaccination against SARS-CoV-2", from the Miguel Servet Foundation; "financial aid to the management of health resources", from the Public University of Navarra; "FeNO-COV" from the Miguel Servet-Navarrabiomed Foundation; "development and application of permanent multisurface protectors with disinfectant action against SARS-CoV-2" from the Lurederra Technological Center; "Adoptive immunotherapy with SARS-CoV-2 specific t lymphocytes" from the high school de research Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA); and "essay clinical with the drug anikinra authorized in Spain", from the Navarra Hospital Complex (CHN) and Navarrabiomed.

Objectives of the call

The goal of the Regional Executive's call for proposals, called COVI+D Fundis to promote innovation in Navarre and its projection throughout the country. It also enables the incorporation of scientific talent, since these grants include the cost of hiring staff. It also involves generating technological and social innovation that solves the problems of the end users, the patients, by involving them in the processes.

In addition, it seeks to promote the industrial and technological development of Navarra, since many of the projects are likely to generate a transferable knowledge to society in the form of new products or services. It also improves the positioning of the Comunidad Foral in subject of technological competitiveness, by allowing the purchase of equipment and infrastructures..