News - 2020

Le CNRS a pris des mesures exceptionnelles pour soutenir cinq projets dont les recherches portent sur le COVID-19.

Un grand merci au CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) pour son soutien à nos travaux de recherche consacrés au COVID-19. Les modèles d'évaluation mis en place au sein de l'équipe permettent aujourd'hui l'évaluation pré-clinique de stratégies thérapeutiques.

Our last collaboration with IAME (Infection Antimicrobials Modelling Evolution, UMR1137) laboratory on the timing of antiviral treatment initiation to reduce SARS-Cov2 viral load has just been released in preprint.

We modeled the viral dynamics of 13 untreated patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 to infer viral growth parameters and predict the effects of antiviral treatments. In order to reduce peak viral load by more than 2 logs, drug efficacy needs to be greater than 80% if treatment is administered after symptom onset; an efficacy of 50% could be sufficient if treatment is initiated before symptom onset. Given their pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties, current investigated drugs may be in a range of 20-70% efficacy. They may help control virus if administered very early, but may not have a major effect in severe patients.

Our latest preprint on the characterization and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 in nasal and bronchial human airway epithelia has just been released.

In the current COVID-19 pandemic context, proposing and validating effective treatments represents a major challenge. However, the lack of biologically relevant pre-clinical experimental models of SARS-CoV-2 infection as a complement of classic cell lines represents a major barrier for scientific and medical progress. Here, we advantageously used human reconstituted airway epithelial models of nasal or bronchial origin to characterize viral infection kinetics, tissue-level remodeling of the cellular ultrastructure and transcriptional immune signatures induced by SARS-CoV-2. Our results underline the relevance of this model for the preclinical evaluation of antiviral candidates. Foremost, we provide evidence on the antiviral efficacy of remdesivir and the therapeutic potential of the remdesivir-diltiazem combination as a rapidly available option to respond to the current unmet medical need imposed by COVID-19.

Notre projet de Stratégie de repositionnement de médicaments pour le traitement des infections par le 2019-nCoV a été sélectionné parmi les 20 projets de recherche financés par REACTing pour lutter contre l’épidémie.

Development of new antiviral treatments against SARS-CoV2 in collaboration with the Center for Infection & Immunity of Lille (CIIL) and the Institut Pasteur de Lille.

VirPath on french TV news (France Television)

Signia Therapeutics highlighted in the Biotechfinances magazine n°889 about the Covid-19.

In the next days Signia Therapeutics is about to test two molecules of its pipeline against Coronavirus 2019-n-CoV , already validated in preclinical for their antiviral properties, especially against MERS-CoV and several other coronaviruses.

We were very honoured to receive Mr Alain Mérieux in our laboratory.

Nous avons été très honorés de recevoir Monsieur Alain Mérieux qui est venu encourager et féliciter toute l’équipe VirPath dans sa lutte contre le virus SARS-CoV-2. Ce moment d’échanges très convivial et bienveillant a été très apprécié des chercheurs et des étudiants. Nous remercions très sincèrement Monsieur Alain Mérieux, ainsi que le conseil scientifique de l’Institut Mérieux pour leur confiance dans nos travaux de recherche et leur soutien en nous accordant un « Mérieux Research grant ».

We were very honoured to receive Mr Alain Mérieux, who came to encourage and congratulate the VirPath team in its fight against the SARS-CoV-2. This very convivial and benevolent moment of exchange was greatly appreciated by both researchers and students. We sincerely thank Mr Alain Mérieux, as well as the scientific council of Institut Mérieux for their trust and support in our research work through the award of a “Mérieux Research grant”.

The Lyon healthcare cluster is mobilizing alongside our #VirPath laboratory in its fight against SARS-CoV-2.

The Lyon healthcare cluster is mobilizing alongside our #VirPath laboratory in its fight against SARS-CoV-2. In collaboration with the Hospices Civils de Lyon, the genomic platform ProfileXpert and the companies ViroScan3D and Signia Therapeutics, our laboratory has isolated and characterized by deep sequencing two SARS-CoV-2 viral strains from several patient samples. Our analyses confirm that our SARS-CoV2 viral bank is genetically stable after amplification at both the consensus level and the low-frequency mutation landscape. Sequences have been uploaded to GISAID to contribute to the international program monitoring and studying the SARS-CoV-2.

The BIOTECHFINANCES magazine highlighted the work of Signia Therapeutics and VirPath to fight against the coronavirus "2019-nCoV".

Glycoflu program aims to develop a new generation of influenza antiviral drugs.

Our VirPath Laboratory, with its technological research Platform VirNext, is partner of the GlycoFlu program which aims to develop a new generation of influenza drugs that could be administered orally (aerosols) with multiple development potentials (human or avian flu) and applications both prophylactic and therapeutic. Launched on January 20, 2020, this program funded by the SATT Linksium Grenoble Alpes, is led by Emeline Richard Millot, winner of the Grand Prize in the I-PhD competition from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation in partnership with BPI France, and Eric Samain from CERMAV (CNRS). #influenza #antiviral

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) dispatch about VirPath is quoted by french and international newspapers.

Video reportages of Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"VirPath, a university laboratory in Lyon, is working to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus using an existing database of drugs."

Our laboratory VIRPATH is mobilized with the REACTING consortium on the front line against the 2019-n-CoV Coronavirus

We are currently characterizing the virus in several preclinical models of interest with the aim of applying our drug repurposing strategy and thus rapidly proposing a therapeutic solution to be tested in clinic against such new emerging epidemic virus. Signia Therapeutics joins our laboratory in the fight against Coronavirus 2019-n-CoV and announces that two proprietary molecules from its portfolio, already validated for their antiviral properties against MERS-COV and several other human and animal coronaviruses, will be tested against Coronavirus 2019-n-CoV in preclinical models of infection. 

In Lyon, the VirPath laboratory tries to find a treatment against 2019-nCoV.

Dr Manuel ROSA-CALATRAVA has been interviewed by France 3 Auvergne Rhône Alpes about the novel coronavirus. He explained that the VirPath laboratory was focused on finding a treatment for coronavirus using existing drugs. 

You can find the complete interview here.

INSERM press room : "Deadly outbreak in China linked to a novel form of coronavirus"

Inserm is already mobilized to respond to the epidemic, under the action of the Reacting consortium, which brings together French research groups of excellence. Several initiatives have been launched:

- The consolidation of a «modelling group» set up at the request of Reacting, to model the possible spread of the epidemic in France and Europe, and anticipate its impact on populations.

- The work entrusted to Bruno Lina (Inserm Unit 1111 – Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie, CIRI) to propose a research project on potential therapeutic targets to identify molecules capable of acting on several types of coronavirus.

- Support for clinical research, through the dissemination to Reacting’s French and international partners of best practices in research protocols/ standardization of data collection.

Launch of Cynbiome network

VirPath: We are pleased to announce the launch of Cynbiome, a preclinical excellence network on microbiome and infectious diseases. We congratulate the principal investigator Cynbiose, a service company specializing in the development and commercialization of innovative preclinical models.

CYNBIOME is financed by the French government and the Auvergne- Rhône-Alpes region and is supported by The French Public Bank of Investment (Bpifrance).

Our laboratory and our Technological Research Platform VirNext are very proud to be partners of the cynbiome network. We will bring our expertises, OMICS analytic tools and biological materials in the field of infectious diseases to contribute in the development of this ambitious and unique network in EU.

Our last editorial just published in John Libbey Eurotext Virologie concerning Novel antiviral compounds and combination therapy for influenza viruses.