Unmet Need
The spectrum of COVID-19 symptomatic infection ranges from mild to critical. Severe illness can occur in healthy individuals of any age, but it predominantly occurs in adults with advanced age or certain underlying medical comorbidities (e.g. cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, chronic lung disease, obesity). Some prediction tools have been proposed to identify patients who are more likely to have severe illness based on epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory features; however, most of the studies evaluating these tools are limited by risk of bias, and none has been prospectively evaluated or validated for clinical management (UpToDate, 2020). Therefore, there is a strong need for effective prediction tools and treatment of COVID-19.
Technology Overview
Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a protein and its polymorphisms as biomarkers of COVID-19 disease severity as well as a target for immunotherapy. Johns Hopkins researchers have developed therapeutic human antibodies specifically against this protein of interest. These antibodies may be used to prevent and reduce severity of heart failure, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension and other lung diseases (such as COPD), which have been associated with some COVID-19 patients. The human antibodies could be a novel immunotherapy to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious inflammation-related pathologies such as hepatitis virus diseases.
Stage of Development
Experiment data is available.
Publication
N/A
