ULB, CHU Saint-Pierre, Hôpital Erasme, ULiège - FNRS

" The project investigates the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans. Cohorts of patients and contacts are recruited and followed-up during several months following infection. Using systems serology and systems biology approaches, the quality and dynamics of antibody and cellular responses are analysed to identify correlates of protection against severe disease and to determine the duration of natural immunity to the virus. The project should provide insight in the host response to SARS-CoV-2 and should help define deconfinement strategies and develop prophylactic and therapeutic interventions against COVID-19. "
Funding: COVID 19 - ULB
Contact: Arnaud Marchant: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Stanislas Goriely: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULB, Bordet Institute and CHU Saint-Pierre
" The limited capacity of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and the high mortality of patients requiring ICU care after COVID-19 infection are major problems that urgently require solutions. Early evidence suggests that an individual patient's immune responses to this virus are a key factor in their disease pathogenesis. This response can be further compounded by underlying factors, which for patients at Bordet can be exacerbated by their cancer status. A recent study shows that some cancer patients (particularly lung, blood or metastatic cancer patients) are three times more likely to die from COVID-19 infection. Thus, there is an important need to understand and identify immune biomarker(s) that measure functionality of innate and/or adaptive immunity in the blood with rapid turnaround to provide much needed information for clinical decision making. The anticipated results of this collaborative research project include the identification of...

Read more: Ahmad Awada, Chef de Service, Medical Oncology - Karen Willard-Gallo, Laboratory Head, Molecular...

ZENTECH SA
" Development of specific IVD products to detect the patient serology due to the infection with SARS-COV2 Developement based on ISO13485, Directives 98/79/EC standards. Different technologies approched : ELISA, RT-PCR, lateral flow "
Contact: Alain Bosseloir COO ZenTech sa Liege Science Park Avenue du Pré Aily 10 4031 Angleur

Protein Factory - ULiège
" At Protein Factory, the protein expression and purification facility of the Centre for Protein Engineering (CIP; ULiège), we have produced proteins for COVID-19 diagnostics. Thus, in a collaborative effort with the GIGA Institute at ULiège (Haruko Takeda, in particular), we have been involved in the implementation of alternative rapid and reliable tests, based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assays, which both appear as promising alternative to the standard quantitative reverse transcription (qRT) PCR procedure. In addition, for the sake of increased reliability, the CRISPR-Cas12 / Cas13 reporter detection systems have also been implemented. In order not to depend on commercial products, we produced at Protein Factory all the enzymes necessary to perform these tests internally, regardless of any supply shortage or price inflation. Thus, the following enzymes are now available at the CIP for...

Read more: Alain Brans, Fabrice Bouillenne, Iris Tham, Anne-Marie Matton, Moreno Galleni, André Matagne

D-tek s.a
" "Multiplex Immuno-Dot technology for COVID-19 serological investigation The Multiplex serological technology, developed since 1995 in D-tek (www.d-tek.be), is dedicated to the profiling of the human antibody response to different immunogens, in a single test. It has various applications in laboratory diagnostics, as well as medical and pharmaceutical research (companion-diagnostics). The technology finds an obvious application for the COVID-19 serological investigation, as the antibody response to the SARS-CoV-2 infection is known to be complex, with multi-epitope targeting, and needs to be better understood. In a typical test (ongoing development), various recombinant SARS-CoV-2 antigens are coated on a membrane strip at different spot positions. The assay is designed to map, in one single test, any patient antibody recognizing any of these protein structures. The test procedure is a classical enzyme immunoassay that can be processed from 10µl of patient's serum or...

Read more: Alain Vigneron, Founder & Scientific advisor - Benoît Autem, CEO - Nicolas Bodart, R&D Director -...

OSIVAX
" OSIVAX is using its proven vaccination approach in Influenza (OVX836 currently in phase 2a clinical trial) to develop a broadly protective coronavirus vaccine triggering CD8 T-cell responses against the Nucleocapsid. This approach is based on evidence that CD8 T-cell responses against Nucleocapsid are protective in animals and humans. OSIVAX is currently down-selecting Nucleocapsid sequences with the aim to produce first lab-scale batches in the coming weeks. "
Funding: OSIVAX is currently seeking funding from European institutions supporting the development of vaccines against COVID-19.
Contact: Alexandre Le VERT This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Comunicare Solutions
" Comunicare Solutions is a health technology startup, specializing in patient empowerment, self-management and digital therapy. In the context of Covid-19 sanitary crisis, we proposed our solution for the remote support to chronic patients, especially the most at risk patients who suffered from chronic systemic diseases of respiratory origin, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease like heart failure or complex hypertension. The application enables caregivers to inform those patients about additional precautions, to screen patients reported outcomes but also to keep in touch with them via video consultation"
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ULiège - Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
"The Centre for Protein Engineering (CIP, ULiège), through its two technological platforms, has been involved in the production of reagents (i.e. proteins) for diagnostic and analyses of SARSCoV-2 infection. In particular, Protein Factory has produced a pure and highly active enzyme (CAS12) for a CRISPR/CAS assay, which, in combination with classical PCR technology allows rapid detection of the virus. Automated screening is currently performed at Robotein for optimal formulation of CAS12. The production of complementary protein reagents for such tests is underway. Furthermore, in a collaborative effort with Dr Arnaud Marchant at Institut d'Immunologie Médicale (ULB), the CIP is involved in the design and production of recombinant SARS-COV-2 antigens towards the development of a platform for high dimensional systems serology analysis of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies."
Contact: André Matagne This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Institut Jules Bordet
" Contribution to the application and implementation of a novel Covid-19 diagnostic testing method developed at the GIGA/FARAH academic research institutes. Starting with a handful academic scientists from different disciplines, we established a Covid diagnostic lab with the goal of increasing the testing capacity in Belgium during the heaviest period of the crisis. The lab was entirely and exclusively build by training academic volunteers dedicating their time and energy to a joint effort to "beat the virus". Today the lab has a testing capacity of > 3000 samples/day, 7days/7. The diagnostic lab contributed - and still contributes - to the federal Testing Task Force as one of the five partners involved in screening nursing homes and more recently "centres de triage". We believe extensive testing may be critical to assist and better understand the nascent "deconfinement". Making available our expertise in virus-associated diseases accumulated over years of...

Read more: Anne Van den Broeke, Doctor

UNamur - FNRS
" Professors and researches from the Department of Mathematics and the naXys research institute of complex systems at UNamur gathered their skills and expertise in mathematical modeling, dynamic systems, statistics, control theory and numerical optimization to develop prediction and unlockdown monitoring models of the Covid-19 epidemic. They set up a consortium in mathematical modeling of the Covid-19 epidemic bringing together all the universities of the Wallonia Brussels Federation, in synergy with its equivalent in Flanders. "
Contact: Annick Sartenaer (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Alexandre Mauroy (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Nicolas Franco (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Sébastien Clesse (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Morgane Dumont (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

UCLouvain, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc - FNRS
" "Telomeres are non-coding DNA sequences located at the end of chromosomes. In highly dividing cells, like embryonic stem cells and germ cells, telomeres are maintained by the telomerase complex. In the absence of telomerase activity in normal somatic cells, telomeres shorten after each cell division, ultimately leading to cell senescence or apoptosis. Telomeres are thus considered as ""molecular biological clocks"", closely related to ageing. Short telomeres syndromes (STS) have been identified, that are linked to genetic mutations affecting compounds of the telomerase complex, or proteins with crucial roles in telomere protection, and resulting in various conditions including lung fibrosis and aplastic anaemia (1). Bone marrow failure in STS results from the premature exhaustion of hematopoietic stem cells and, overall, tissues from STS patients suffer from premature senescence that likely drives the organ failures...

Read more: Antoine FROIDURE, Professor - Jean-Philippe DEFOUR, Professor - Anabelle DECOTTIGNIES, FNRS Senior...

UCLouvain
" The Covid-19 outbreak has exposed the world's population to challenging and long-lasting emotional conditions. While investigations of responses to tragic one-off events exist, studies on the evolution of collective emotions during a pandemic are missing. Collecting the time-sensitive data about the population's collective emotional state could improve the planning of mental health interventions and risk-communication. In a first phase, we analyzed the digital traces of emotional expressions on Twitter in the five weeks after the outbreak in 8.3 billion tweets in six different languages from 18 countries. Next, we keep monitoring the evolution of emotional responses with particular attention to lexical indicators of solidarity according to the different phases of the pandemic's evolution, the resumption of activities, and economic and social difficulties in these 18 countries. "
Funding: This is a collaboration with the Complexity Science Hub Vienna (Austria). (These...

Read more: Bernard Rimé

CER Groupe
" "As Approved Research Centre in life sciences, the CER Groupe was requested several times to participate in the action plan against Coronavirus. Among the actions taken, we can point out : • The setting up of an operational structure, qualified to carry out PCR covid-19 tests to assist local hospitals in the lockdown ending and tracing phase ; • Involvement in a Belgian consortium to develop an ELISA quantitative serological test to supplement the PCR analytical capacity and secure the lockdown ending phase ; • implementation of antibody bioproduction for therapeutic/diagnostic use. Finally, let us point out that all of these actions were possible thanks to the involvement and synergy of the CERg various operating units. - development of an ELISA quantitative serological test : design, production and characterization of antigens; design/validation of the ELISA test; production of ELISA kits - production of antibodies in various species (lamas, hens, rabbits, pigs, goats...

Read more: Bertrand Moinet, CEO - Nathalie Gillard, Dr - Eric Fichant, Dr - Patrice Filée, Dr - Jean-Noel...

CRIG, research center of HELMo (Haute école libre mosane)
" As the COVID-19 pandemic still progresses every day, time is running out to find solutions. It is therefore in everyone's interest that the active forces work together. It is in this spirit that HELMo and its Centre of Research CRIG made their experts available. A team of teachers from the Medical Laboratory Technologist curriculum reinforced by researchers of the CRIG contributes to enhance the capacity of direct testing, by assessing a new q-PCR diagnostic method developed by Dr. N. Gillet’s team (UNamur). UNamur provided the diagnosis protocol to HELMo consisting in two main steps: first, the inactivation and extraction of genetic material from the sample (smears taken from the nose and throat), and second, the identification of SARS-Cov-2 virus-specific gene by qPCR. However, the "Trizol" reagent - used for the extraction of genetic material - could quickly become a limiting reagent, as it is used by all diagnostic...

Read more: Birgit Quinting, PhD, teacher HELMo - Marine Joris, PhD, Research Fellow, CRIG - Florence Mahy,...

ULB
" Contribution to the realization of Covid-19 diagnosis by PCR We are involved in the diagnosis of Covid-19 at ULB (Erasmus Campus) by coordinating and contributing to two steps of the flow required to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in swaps. "
Publication References: /
Contact: Carine Truyens Lab of Parasitology - Faculty of Medicine - ULB Erasmus Campus ctruyens#ulb.ac.be