The Viral Biology group at 12SysBio (a joint center between the University of Valencia and CISCC), led by Dr Ron Geller, has introduced a model virus to provide a new rapid, inexpensive and efficient system for the diagnosis of COVID-19. It has been developed by Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), IIS La Fe and CIBER-BBN. The system is now ready for testing on clinical samples.
Professor Ramón Martínez Máñez, a researcher at the IDM from UPV and scientific director of CIBER-BBN, and his group have leaded the research. It focuses on an alternative way of diagnosing COVID-19 based on nanoporous films. These materials can store an indicator that is only released in the presence of SARS-CvoV-2 thanks to a system of molecular gates. And they do so in a fast, reliable and simple way.
The study has already demonstrated its ability to detect the Spike protein found in SARS-CoV-2.
‘These advances are a further step towards obtaining the final device and confirming that the system can recognise virus particles’, stresses Ramón Martínez Máñez.
The clinic validation of the device will be carried out by the UPV research team in collaboration with Javier Permán and Mª Ángeles Tormo, from the Severe Infection Research Group of the IIS La Fe; Dr. María Dolores Gómez, head of Microbiology Unit of the Microbiology Service of the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe; and Dr. Miguel Salavert and Dr. Eva Calabuig from Infectious Diseases Unit of the same hospital.
Once its sensitivity for the diagnosis of COVID-19 has been proven, it is planned to develop a final kit and obtain the CE marking, which will allow it to be marketed. ‘We expect this process to be carried out as quickly as possible and to be on the market as a new tool against the pandemic we are suffering’, says Elena Aznar, CIBER-BBN researcher.
Advantages
Among the advantages of the device designed by researchers from the UPV, UV, CSIC, IIS La Fe and CIBER-BBN, its ease of use stands out, as it can be used to diagnose COVID-19 in places with limited infrastructure. Moreover, highly qualified personnel are not required and the sample does not have to be analysed in specialised laboratories.
‘In addition, the POC technologies on which it is based are global detection tools to monitor for possible new outbreaks in the future, so once it is ready for use, it will contribute to the rapid implementation of containment measures,’ notes Ramón Martínez Máñez.
With funding from COVID-19 donations from the Generalitat.
The solidarity of Valencian citizens resulted in donations of close to 1 million euros, all of which went to research projects of excellence against the virus managed by the Regional Ministry of Innovation, Universities, Science and Digital Society, such as the one led by Professor Martínez Máñez.
The project is also supported by the Supera COVID-19 Fund, promoted by Crue Universidades Españolas, Banco Santander -through Santander Universities- and the CSIC. In addition, the Viral Biology group at I2SysBio (UV-CSIC) received funding from the Valencian Innovation Agency for the implementation of the model virus.
