29/05/2020
The crowdfunding initiative for the project "FarmaCovid" is now online on the GoFundMe platform. The campaign is organized by the association “Semi di Scienza” (Yuri Galletti, President), for the Institute of biophysics of the National Research Council (Cnr-Ibf) and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Icgeb). In particular, researchers Eloise Mastrangelo and Mario Milani (Cnr-Ibf) from Milan and Alessandro Marcello (Icgeb– Molecular Virology Laboratory) from Trieste are collaborating to identify a drug effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19.
The funds raised will allow the Cnr-Ibf and Icgeb to:
• purchase an greater number of drug candidates (15,000 euros) to be tested on viral proteins and directly in human cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 (25,000 euros); these activities have already started on a small scale, but we need to increase the chances of success and accelerate the results of this first phase. Based on the funds raised, the researchers plan to complete this phase within the next six months;
• select the best drug candidates to study their activity over toxicity (20,000 euros for each selected drug); these tests are essential for subsequent studies with patients and, with adequate resources, this phase could be completed within six months following the first phase;
• if more than € 100,000 will be collected, the researchers plan to extend the research on the variable regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome and other SARS viruses, to propose new drugs in response to any future emergencies caused by other Coronaviruses.
The crowdfunding initiative on GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/aw9q6-farmacovid?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link-tip&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet
All the updates of the research will be published on the dedicated page at https://www.facebook.com/ProgettoFarmaCovid/ and on all official websites of the research institutions involved.
Per informazioni:
Federica Cossu
Cnr-Ifb (Milan)
federica.cossu@cnr.it
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