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Highlights
- New peer-reviewed paper published in Nature Communications on SARS-CoV-2 human challenge trial.
- Study identifies key blood biomarkers for early and late phases of respiratory infections.
- Findings could enhance early-stage diagnosis and patient management for COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.
hVIVO plc (AIM: HVO), a leading specialist contract research organisation (CRO) renowned for its human challenge clinical trials in infectious and respiratory diseases, has announced the publication of an additional peer-reviewed paper in Nature Communications from the world’s first COVID-19 characterisation trial. The paper, titled “SARS-CoV-2 human challenge reveals single-gene blood transcriptional biomarkers that discriminate early and late phases of acute respiratory viral infections,” was authored by Rosenheim, J. et al., and can be accessed in the journal here (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-54764-3).
This study builds upon hVIVO’s previous work in SARS-CoV-2 human challenge trials, which were conducted in collaboration with Imperial College London, the Vaccine Taskforce, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. The research identified key blood-based biomarkers that activate during SARS-CoV-2 infections and other respiratory viral infections. These biomarkers are capable of distinguishing between the early and late phases of infection, offering significant potential for advancements in diagnosing and managing both early and late-stage infections.
The results of the original SARS-CoV-2 characterisation study were published previously in Nature Medicine in March 2022, demonstrating that the human challenge study was safe in healthy young adults and provided crucial insights into the progression of COVID-19. The findings presented in Nature Communications further enhance the understanding of immune responses to COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, marking an important milestone in infectious disease research.
Dr. Andrew Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer of hVIVO, commented: "Human challenge trials allow researchers to observe infection progression in a controlled environment, particularly during the early stages, which would not be feasible in traditional field studies. It is exciting to see how our SARS-CoV-2 characterisation study continues to contribute to the understanding of immune responses and is now published in a prestigious journal like Nature Communications. The discovery of early-stage markers—sometimes detectable even before PCR testing—holds great promise for improving early patient diagnosis, as well as potentially aiding in the stratification of patients for antiviral treatments."
This publication reflects hVIVO’s continued leadership in human challenge trials, offering valuable insights into respiratory diseases and advancing the development of more effective therapies for COVID-19 and other viral infections.
