Dr. Chuck Bailey awarded Pipeline Accelerator Grant for COVID-19 research

There is an urgent need for antiviral drugs and vaccines to combat the current coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Our team of scientists and clinicians has identified a new highly-specific antibody called BD-368-2 that prevents the coronavirus from infecting cells by nullifying a protein that acts as a key for the virus to enter a cell.

Dr Chuck Bailey & Professor John Rasko will work closely with collaborators at Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics (ICG) & Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center (BIOPIC), Peking University, Beijing, China to analyse the patient response to receiving therapeutic doses of BD-368-2. Dr Bailey will use Nanostring gene expression technology to analyse the host immune response in patient peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after receiving BD-368-2.

This study will pave the way for rapid implementation of clinical trials of BD-368-2 in COVID-19 patients in Australia by testing its effectiveness and safety. 

Congratulations Chuck!

Find out more: Kao et al, Cell 2020