Our bodies contain ancient viral remnants called HERVs that usually stay quiet. COVID-19 can wake these remnants up, causing a massive inflammatory storm that damages organs. This project identifies a specific 'wake-up' protein to help doctors predict who will get very sick or suffer from Long-COVID.
Doctors lack precise tools to predict which COVID-19 patients will develop severe forms or Long-COVID. This leads to a one-size-fits-all treatment approach that is inefficient for a highly heterogeneous patient population.
A set of diagnostic and prognostic biomarker panels based on HERV-W envelope protein and transcriptomic activity to cluster patient profiles.
If you are a diagnostic company dealing with the lack of specific markers for Long-COVID — this project developed biomarker panels that identify patient subgroups based on HERV-W protein levels. This allows for the creation of high-fidelity tests to prioritize patients for treatment.
If you are a biotech firm dealing with the heterogeneity of COVID-19 responses — this project identified the HERV-W envelope protein as a pro-inflammatory driver. This provides a concrete target for developing monoclonal antibody therapeutics to treat severe inflammation.
If you are a clinic dealing with the 10-15% of patients suffering from symptoms 6-8 months post-infection — this project developed a method to cluster bio-clinical profiles. This enables personalized medical treatment and more efficient patient follow-up.
Based on available project data, specific pricing or implementation costs are not provided; the project focuses on the research and evaluation of the biomarker panels.
The project involves 2 industry partners and focuses on identifying proteins and transcriptomic activity, which are standard targets for industrial scale-up in diagnostics and biologics.
Based on available project data, the current status of patents or licensing agreements is not disclosed, though the project is identifying specific protein targets for therapy.
The project period runs from 2022-07-01 to 2027-06-30, suggesting that validated panels and therapeutic targets will be finalized by mid-2027.
The project aims to combine HERV-associated biomarkers with mandatory medical blood analyses already used for clinical monitoring to create a comprehensive diagnostic panel.
The consortium is well-balanced for translation, consisting of 9 partners across 5 countries. With an industry ratio of 22% (including 2 industry partners and 1 SME), there is a clear bridge between the 5 academic/research entities and the commercial market, ensuring that the identified HERV-W biomarkers are developed with industrial applicability in mind.
Contact the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) in France.
Contact us to explore licensing opportunities for HERV-W biomarker panels.
