May 15, 2020 | New evidence may explain why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women. An association between low average levels of vitamin D and high numbers of COVID-19 cases, and more. We round up the week’s research and industry news for COVID-19.  

Literature Updates | 

Evidence from a large study of several thousand patients shows that men have higher concentrations of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in their blood than women, which may help explain why they are more vulnerable to COVID-19. ACE2 is what enables the coronavirus to infect healthy cells. The study, led by researchers at University Medical Center Groningen (The Netherlands) and published in the European Heart Journal, also found that heart failure patients taking drugs targeting the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS), such as ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers, did not have higher concentrations of ACE2 in their blood. Findings do not support the discontinuation of these drugs in COVID-19 patients, contrary to earlier reports suggesting that RAAS inhibitors might increase concentrations of ACE2 in plasma and increase the risk of COVID-19. Researchers note that conclusions are mainly restricted to heart failure patients who did not have COVID-19, so they cannot provide a direct link between the course of the disease and ACE2 plasma concentrations. It is also uncertain if ACE2 concentrations in the blood reflect those seen in tissues. Blood samples were taken from two groups of patients from 11 European countries, including 1,485 men and 537 women in the index cohort and another 1,123 men and 575 women in the validation cohort. The median age of males and females was 69 and 75 years, respectively, in the first group and 74 and 76 in the second group. ACE2 is found in multiple organs of the body but levels are particularly high in the testes. DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaa373 

An observational study of 29 Italian patients with severe COVID-19, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and hyperinflammation found that high-dose intravenous anakinra, an arthritis drug, was safe and associated with respiratory improvements and reduced signs of cytokine storm (72% of participants) at 21 days. Survival was 90% and 17% needed mechanical ventilation. The comparator group comprised 16 patients receiving standard care only; most of them experienced persistent or recurrent increases in serum C-reactive protein with respiratory function improving for 50% and 56% surviving. One patient received mechanical ventilation (6%). Researchers concluded that the drug deserves controlled testing in large randomized trials. ARDS is the main cause of death from coronavirus disease, with an estimated death rate ranging from 28% to 78% among such admitted to intensive care units. Anakinra, already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, works by blocking the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1. Compared with other cytokine-blocking agents, the authors note, it has a strong safety record and a short half-life that make it suitable for critically ill patients. A randomized controlled trial of intravenous anakinra to treat COVID-19 is underway but is assessing lower doses and does not include patients with ARDS. Results of the latest study published in The Lancet Rheumatology. DOI: /10.1016/S2665-9913(20)30127-2 

Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University (U.K.) have found an association between low average levels of vitamin D and high numbers of COVID-19 cases and mortality rates across 20 European countries. A similar association was previously reported between vitamin D and susceptibility to acute respiratory tract infections. Italy and Spain have both experienced high COVID-19 mortality rates and, the new study shows, both countries also have lower average vitamin D levels than most northern European countries. Scandinavian nations—due in part to consumption of cod liver oil and vitamin D supplements and possibly less sun avoidance—have had a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases and related deaths. A previous study found 75% of people in institutions were severely deficient in vitamin D, suggesting the need for studies looking at vitamin D levels in COVID-19 patients with different degrees of disease severity. Findings published in Aging Clinical and Experimental Research. DOI: 10.1007/s40520-020-01570-8 

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Kantonsspital Aarau (Switzerland) have found that loss of the sense of smell is most likely to occur by the third day of COVID-19 infection, and that most of these patients also experience a loss of the sense of taste. Findings were based on a telephone survey of 103 patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus over a six-week period at the Switzerland hospital. At least 61% of those patients reported reduced or lost sense of smell, with a mean onset of 3.4 days. Severity of anosmia also correlated with severity of other symptoms, including shortness of breath and more severe fever and cough. Additionally, researchers found that younger patients and women were also more likely to experience a decreased loss of smell. Half of study patients experienced a stuffy nose and 35% a runny nose, suggesting these symptoms may be attributable to COVID-19 and not allergy. The study’s principal investigator says the antiviral drug remdesivir, developed by Gilead Sciences to initially treat Ebola, is showing some promise in treating COVID-19 patients. Findings to publish in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Manuscript accepted for publication. 

A multi-institutional team of researchers, reporting in JAMA Pediatrics, has found that COVID-19 can result in a significant disease burden in children but confirms that severe illness is less frequent, and early hospital outcomes are better than in adults. To date, there have been only limited reports describing COVID-19 in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Prehospital comorbidities appear to be an important factor in children; 83% of patients had significant preexisting comorbidities. The cross-sectional study included children positive for COVID-19 admitted to 46 North American PICUs between March 14 and April 3, 2020. with follow-up to April 10, 2020. Among the 48 children in the study, 73% presented with respiratory symptoms and 38% required invasive ventilation (three were still on ventilatory support at the completion of the follow-up period). Stays in the PICU ranged from three to nine days; hospital lengths of stay were between four and 13 days. DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1948  

The triple antiviral drug combination—interferon beta-1b, lopinavir-ritonavir and ribavirin—shows early promise for treating COVID-19 alongside standard care, based on findings of a phase 2 randomized trial published in The Lancet. The treatment approach was found to be safe and shorten the duration of viral shedding compared to lopinavir-ritonavir alone (seven versus 12 days) in 127 patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at six public hospitals in Hong Kong. Clinical improvement and length of hospital stay may also be significantly shorter. Lopinavir-ritonavir is normally used to treat HIV, ribavirin is an oral hepatitis C virus drug and interferon beta-1b was developed to treat multiple sclerosis. Secondary analysis suggests that interferon beta 1-b may be a key component of the combination treatment. Researchers say phase 3 studies in critically ill patients are needed to confirm whether this triple regimen can provide clinically meaningful benefit. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31042-4 

Researchers in The Netherlands, in an article published in Science, illustrate how blockchain technology could be used to promote fair and timely outbreak research cooperation during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The decentralized data structuring approach could be leveraged to overcome the challenges of exchanging pathogen information between public and private research institutions, for example. Specifically, the authors outline an “outbreak research blockchain infrastructure” to facilitate rapid dissemination of resources and global cooperation during outbreak response R&D, which could be easily implemented with systems currently in place. DOI: 10.1126/science.aba1355  

Treatment with antivirals such as interferons may significantly improve virus clearance and reduce levels of inflammatory proteins in COVID-19 patients, according to a study appearing in Frontiers in Immunology. In a cohort of 77 confirmed, moderate-only cases of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China between January 16 and February 20, 2020, interferon-α2b significantly reduced the duration of detectable virus in the upper respiratory tract (by approximately seven days) and reduced blood levels of two inflammatory proteins (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein). The findings hint at functional connections between viral infection and host end organ damage by limiting the subsequent inflammatory response in the lungs of patients. Interferons, the researchers argue, should be considered “first responders” in terms of treatment in lieu of developing a virus-specific antiviral for each new virus outbreak. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01061/full  

Current smokers and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk of severe complications and higher mortality with COVID-19 infection, according to a multi-institutional review published in PLOS ONE. Findings were based on 15 relevant studies with a total of 2,473 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 2.3% of whom had COPD and 9% were smokers. Critically ill COVID-19 patients with COPD had a 63% risk of severe disease and a 60% risk of mortality while critically ill patients without COPD had only a 33.4% risk of severe disease and 55% risk of mortality. Current smokers were 1.45 times more likely to have severe complications compared to former and never smokers. (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233147 

In a Perspective published in Science, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the National Institutes of Health (including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious diseases), outlined their vision for a coordinated and efficient approach to creating COVID-19 vaccines. The authors call for harmonizing each step of the vaccine development process, including: creating a common oversight body and shared set of criteria to evaluate the vaccine studies underway; transparency and data sharing; and marshalling the full resources of private, public and philanthropic sectors to scale up eventual manufacturing capacity and distribution chains for COVID-19 vaccines. Th envision multiple successful vaccines and vaccine platforms to meet the global need. DOI: 10.1126/science.abc5312 

Four of six critically ill COVID-19 patients significantly improved after receiving an experimental therapeutic designed to reduce inflammation, according to a case series published by Cedars-Sinai and Capricor Therapeutics in Basic Research in Cardiology. The therapeutic, known as CAP-1002, contains cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) that are grown in the laboratory from human heart tissues. Previous preclinical and clinical research showed that the CDCs, originally created by a process developed to treat heart failure, can help the whole body. This is believed to be the first peer-reviewed report on using a cell therapy in critically ill COVID-19 patients. All six patients in the case series suffered from respiratory failure and required supplemental oxygen prior to receiving the cell therapy; five were on ventilators. Within four days after infusion with CAP-1002, four patients were able to breathe without respiratory support and, within less than three weeks, were well enough to be discharged from the hospital. As of April 28, the two other patients remained hospitalized in intensive care. None of the patients showed adverse effects from the infusions, and none died during the study period. By comparison, six patients died among a group of 34 comparable COVID-19 patients who were treated in Cedars-Sinai's intensive care unit around the same time but who did not receive the cell therapy. Patients in the case series were treated under emergency use provisions of the FDA. Investigators plan to do a randomized clinical trial in the future to establish efficacy of the therapy. DOI: 10.1007/s00395-020-0795-1 

Children suffering from sickness and diarrhea, coupled with a fever or history of exposure to coronavirus, should be suspected of being infected with COVID-19, recommends a study published in Frontiers in Pediatrics by researchers in China. The research also suggests that the gastrointestinal symptoms first suffered by some children hints at potential infection through the digestive tract, as the type of receptors in cells in the lungs targeted by the virus can also be found in the intestines. In this study, researchers detail the clinical features of children admitted to the hospital with non-respiratory symptoms (e.g., kidney stone, head trauma), which were subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia and COVID-19. Importantly, four of the five COVID-19 cases had digestive tract symptoms as the first manifestation of the disease. DOI: 10.3389/fped.2020.00258 

Past epidemics and preclinical research suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic may compound the social and economic burdens of those with Parkinson's disease (PD), scientists from Federal University of São Paulo/Paulista Medical School write in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease. Clinical symptoms of COVID-19 like the loss of smell and taste and encephalitis suggest that the virus might have the ability to invade the central nervous system. Studies have found patients with the severe form of COVID-19 infection are more likely to develop acute cerebrovascular disease, and there is evidence of encephalopathy and intracerebral hemorrhage on brain scans of patients with the infection. An epidemic of encephalitis lethargica following the 1918 influenza outbreak also pointed to a potential link between viruses and PD, an idea supported by studies during subsequent disease outbreaks. The authors hypothesize that severe COVID-19 infection with cytokine storm could be a triggering event of the neurodegenerative cascade underlying PD. They also speculate that COVID-19 survivors may represent a disproportionately large fraction of the future PD patient population. Although the evidence is still inconclusive, persons who were born or were young at the time of the 1918 influenza outbreak had a two- to three-fold higher risk of developing PD than those born prior to 1888 or after 1924. DOI: 10.3233/JPD-202073  

Researchers from MSK Kids at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) report in JAMA Oncology that children with cancer are not at a higher risk of being infected by or dying from COVID-19. Of all children with cancer infected with COVID-19 (178), 95% had mild symptoms and didn’t require hospitalization. MSK Kids clinicians also tested asymptomatic children with cancer, finding only a 2.5% rate of positivity compared to nearly 15 percent in their adult caregivers. Only half of the children with COVID-19 positive caregivers were themselves also COVID-19 positive. The researchers also found a very significant sex skewing with most COVID-19 infections occurring in males. DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.2028 

Detailed analysis from the epicenter of the Italian COVID-19 outbreak describes an increase in cases of rare Kawasaki-like disease in young children, adding to reports of similar cases from New York, USA and South East England, UK. Researchers describe 10 such cases between Feb. 18 and April 20, 2020 in a report that published in The Lancet, which represents a potentially 30-fold increase in the number of cases relative to the previous five years. Those who became ill during the pandemic were also older on average, displayed more serious symptoms and required additional treatment with steroids, although all the children in the study survived. Kawasaki Disease causes blood vessels to become inflamed and swollen; typical symptoms include fever and rash, red eyes, dry or cracked lips or mouth, redness on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, and swollen glands. Typically, about a quarter of affected children experience cardiac complications. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31103-X 

Researchers at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) at the University of Luxembourg are coordinating an international collaboration to build a COVID-19 Disease Map to serve as a repository of all current knowledge on the virus-host interaction mechanisms to support research and improve understanding of the disease. They describe the project and call for contributions from the R&D community worldwide in an article published in Nature Scientific Data. Currently, the collaborative effort has 162 participants from 25 countries. The disease map will provide a graphical, interactive representation of the disease mechanisms and a computational resource for analyses and disease modelling. Researchers are relying on a distributed, multi-tool, multi-group approach dictated by emergency time-constraints of the ongoing pandemic. They are also seeking looking for practicing physicians, clinicians and domain experts to help review the content and scope of the map to improve its quality and applicability. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-0477-8 

A team of biochemists and virologists at Goethe University and the Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany have discovered potential targets for COVID-19 therapy. In a cell culture model, several compounds were found to slow down or stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Based on the findings, published in Nature, U.S. company Moleculin Biotech reports that it will conduct a clinical trial of WP1122, a prodrug akin to 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose shown to stop viral reproduction in the cell culture system. Canadian company Bausch Health Americas has also announced it is starting a 50-participant clinical study of Ribavirin, another one of the substances tested in Frankfurt. The virus was cultivated in colon cells from swabs taken from two infected individuals returning from Wuhan. Scientists used a form of mass spectrometry called the mePROD method, developed only a few months previously, which makes it possible to determine the amount and synthesis rate of thousands of proteins within a cell. SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to an increased protein synthesis machinery in the host cell and this was a weak spot of the virus, allowing them to shut down protein production using translation inhibitors. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2332-7 

Other News | 

A team from Lawson Health Research Institute (Canada) will be treating critically ill COVID-19 patients at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC, Ontario) using a specialized dialysis device that modifies their white blood cells to fight hyperinflammation. The research uses a version of a standard extracorporeal leukocyte modifying device that gently removes blood in a much slower circuit than standard dialysis. The hope is that the “reprogrammed” cells will fight rather than promote inflammation in affected organs like the lungs. The clinical trial will include up to 40 critically ill patients with COVID-19 at two LHSC hospitals who will be randomized to receive either standard supportive care or standard supportive care in combination with this novel treatment. Initial conception to treatment of the first patient took only 40 days. If successful, the treatment has potential to be used with other conditions like sepsis. Press release. 

Scientists worldwide have united as the Global Consortium of Chemosensory Researchers (GCCR) to investigate the connection between the chemical senses and the COVID-19 virus. The group is urging anyone who has recently experienced symptoms of respiratory illnesses or smell loss to complete a 10-minute survey, which has been translated into more than 20 languages. The data will be used to unravel key markers of the virus to further understand how to prevent its spread. GCCR includes more than 600 clinicians, neurobiologists, data scientists, cognitive scientists, sensory researchers and technicians from over 50 countries. Members are inviting patient and public involvement in the GCCR through its Patient Advocacy Committee. Press release. 

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has just launched a clinical trial, expected to enroll more than 1,000 participants at roughly 100 sites worldwide, which will test remdesivir plus the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib for COVID-19. The study is the next iteration of NIAID's Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT) that began on Feb. 21 to evaluate remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral treatment developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. ACTT initially recruited 1,063 participants at 47 U.S. and 21 international sites. The preliminary analysis showed patients who received remdesivir had a statistically significant shorter time to recovery compared to patients who received placebo. In ACTT 2, all participants will receive remdesivir or remdesivir with baricitinib, a product licensed to Eli Lilly and Company by Incyte. Marketed under the brand name Olumiant, it is an approved treatment in many countries for the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. Press release. 

The COVID-19 Collaboration Platform (COVIDCP) is bringing together researchers working on vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 so they can share trial protocols and data, and aggregate and analyze evidence. as well as receive support for developing multisite trials and free data storage and anonymization. Trials posted on the COVIDCP platform are open for collaboration. COVIDCP has 14 partnering institutions, including Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, Harvard Data Science Institute, Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute and McGill Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health. Blog 

Clinical leaders from the University of Kentucky have launched a clinical trial with a "pick-the-winner" design to investigate the effectiveness of azithromycin, ivermectin and camostat mesylate as potential COVID-19 treatments. The three drugs—existing treatments, respectively, for bacterial infections, parasitic infections and chronic pancreatitis and postoperative esophageal reflux—will be tested either as stand-alone therapies or in combination with the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine. Participation is limited to Kentuckians, both at home and in the hospital, who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who have COVID-19 symptoms but have not developed severe symptoms that would require progression to ICU care. Patients must also have at least one high-risk feature (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, cancer, lung disease), have an underlying heart condition or be over the age of 50. Outside of the hospital, clinical care and follow-up for research will be done in coordination with the UK Healthcare's Infectious Disease division. Trial enrollment began the first week of May, with an expected 240 patients eventually expected to participate. Press release. 

In the U.K., researchers have launched a study of NHS healthcare workers in three London hospitals to better understand the spread of COVID-19 and why some people are more affected by the virus than others. It was the first trial to collect samples (blood, salvia and nasal swabs) from those on the frontlines who did not experience symptoms of the virus and started before the country reached its COVID-19 peak. The research will also help to enhance ways of testing for the virus and create a library of around 500,000 samples covering the time before, during and after exposure to COVID-19, which could be used for drug or vaccine development. So far, 500 samples have been taken and another 1,000 are soon to be collected. Press release. 

The American College of Cardiology will begin collecting COVID-19 data through the NCDR Chest Pain-MI and CathPCI registries to capture the relationship between COVID-19 and heart disease and maximize data on the cardiac impact of the virus. The registries will accept data on COVID-19 patients from the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S. early this year, allowing hospitals to join the registries to track their patient care during COVID-19. This will include key biomarkers that may reflect cardiac damage, hospital events that may reflect complications and therapies that may have cardiac effects. Long-term data will also allow for future COVID-19 research, including its impacts on specific racial, ethnic and gender groups, and identify where gaps and/or disparities in care exist. Press release. 

To accelerate breakthroughs and understand why disproportionately high rates of sickness and death from COVID-19 seem to be emerging—notably among African Americans, U.S. Hispanics, native people and those in rural areas—the American Heart Association (AHA), Hitachi Vantara (the digital infrastructure and solutions subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd.) and BurstIQ, (provider of blockchain-based data solutions) have launched the COVID-19 Data Challenge. The challenge is focused on testing relationships between COVID-19 and other health conditions, as well as health disparities and social determinants of health that bring a higher burden of illness or mortality based on factors such as ethnicity, gender, geography or income. BurstIQ's global COVID-19 datasets will be available to researchers on the AHA's Precision Medicine Platform. Hitachi Vantara, which built the platform, will provide more than $100,000 in funding for prizes to support the management of the two-step challenge and to recruit top scientists to the effort. Six $5,000 prizes will be awarded at the end of stage one, and these researchers will then compete in the final stage for a $15,000 prize. All applications will be peer reviewed by a panel of data science and public health experts. Press release. 

Greenphire has enhanced its award-winning payment and reimbursement solution, ClinCard, to include additional capabilities to support decentralized clinical trials due to COVID-19 interruptions. ClinCard is an automated participant payment and reimbursement solution. The recent ClinCard enhancements include data-triggered payments, participant reimbursements can be processed in the office or remotely through ClinCard’s data-triggered payments capability, and direct-to-patient card shipments, clinical trial participants are now able to receive ClinCards mailed directly to their homes, which can be especially valuable in support of fully remote trial scenarios. Press release.  

Fluvoxamine, an antidepressant medication, is being tested as a potential treatment for COVID-19 after University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers determined it may prevent dangerous overreactions by the immune system. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are launching a clinical trial to determine its potential in preventing cytokine storms and plan to enroll 152 patients with COVID-19 in Illinois and Missouri. Patients will receive either fluvoxamine or a placebo while quarantined at home, and receive thermometers, fingertip oxygen sensors and automatic blood pressure monitors allowing them to self-report their vital signs to the research team each day. Press release. 

Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark have launched a clinical trial to assess whether senicapoc, developed as a treatment for sickle cell anemia, can mitigate lung damage in patients with COVID-19. Although found safe in clinical trials, senicapoc did not reduce the number of sickle-cell crises and was shelved. Researchers at UC Davis Health have been investigating its potential as a treatment for stroke and Alzheimer's disease, and last year had a Good Manufacturing Practice facility in China manufacture the drug for a clinical trial. They’re now having more of the drug produced for the trial in Denmark. Senicapoc binds to calcium-activated potassium channels involved in fluid secretion on the surface of the airway in the lungs, as well as to potassium channels in macrophages and T-cells. Aarhus University researchers discovered that this combination inhibits the development of severe acute respiratory syndrome and damage to the lungs. Their trial will evaluate 46 patients in intensive care with low blood oxygen saturation levels, and results could be forthcoming in a few months. Press release. 

University of Queensland researchers are leading a worldwide clinical study using artificial intelligence (AI) and data modeling to examine COVID-19 patient data from 300 intensive care units (ICUs) to determine the best treatments for the disease. The COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium Study is the first of its kind in the world. Hospital and research centers in 47 countries are already participating in the collaboration, aimed at arming intensive care clinicians with real-time, evidence-based information on appropriate therapies for diverse patient needs. Researchers plan to analyze potentially tens of thousands of patients on six continents to see which COVID-19 treatments work best. The study will be powered by a ground-breaking machine learning tool, co-developed by IBM, which clinicians will use to quickly record and share key clinical features as well as the use of mechanical ventilation and ECMO (artificial heart/lung machine), duration of stay in the ICU and survival rates. The tool enabled data analysts to create predictive models and easily access information to guide medical workers on ICU treatments for the most vulnerable patients. Press release. 

University of California Irvine (UCI) Health will be among the first centers initiating a phase 2b/3 clinical study of Aviptadil—a drug with a 20-year history of use in clinical trials for lung ailments—to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients who face a high mortality rate because of life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study will focus on patients for whom mortality is alarmingly high. Up to 30 patients at UCI Medical Center who have ARDS due to COVID-19 and require intubation and mechanical ventilation will be included in the trial. Part of the drug portfolio of Swiss company Relief Therapeutics Holding, Aviptadil has been used experimentally for sarcoidosis, as well as for pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. It targets cytokines, the inflammatory molecules in the lungs that COVID-19 whips into a storm. The trial is being led by NeuroRx Inc., Relief Therapeutics' U.S. partner. The University of Miami and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia are simultaneously launching the trial, which will eventually enroll about 120 patients with estimated completion later this year. Press release. 

The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR, London) has fast-tracked development of the database Coronavirus canSAR , driven by artificial intelligence (AI), to warehouse the world's coronavirus research in a single online space. It is an adaptation of an existing system that pulls together data from across cancer research and drug discovery. The new resource will make freely available vast amounts of data on the biology and treatment of COVID-19, accelerating the search for new drugs and knowledge sharing across international boundaries to understand and overcome the disease. Included are data on viral proteins, interactions of viral proteins with human proteins, drugs and drug mechanisms, and more than 1,100 COVID-19 clinical trials. It is believed to be the world's first one-stop shop for research on COVID-19 and related diseases such as SARS and MERS. The knowledgebase, updated weekly, pulls in every 3D structure of biological molecules published in the international Protein Databank (450,000 so far). ICR has analyzed more than four million sites across all proteins in its database, including more than 8,000 from coronavirus protein structures and have identified several druggable cavities. Coronavirus-CanSAR uses AI to generate complex 3D maps of how virus and human proteins interact that resemble visualizations of space and highlight interactions that could potentially be disrupted with new drugs. ICR researchers have used the map to find new druggable sites at the interfaces of coronavirus and the critical proteins ACE2 and B(O)AT1, which is guiding development of new antibodies. Press release.