The COVID-19 virus is humanity’s newest foe, with the potential to prematurely end millions of lives. In order save lives, we need to control the virus, and in order to control the virus, we need to understand it. Labs around the world are now working around the clock in a bid to gain deep understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its biology.
In collaboration with clinicians and researchers at Harvard and the Mayo Clinic, our CSO, Dr. Chris Hopkins co-authored and published a Research Letter in the journal Critical Care on the potential, and implications, of therapies that upregulate ACE2 in COVID-19 patients.
The article, titled ‘ACEI/ARB therapy in COVID-19: the double-edged sword of ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 viral docking’, described the importance of the renin-angiotensin system in SARS-CoV-2 infection, disease progression and severity. It highlights the importance of ACE2 as central to infection and comorbidities in COVID-19.
What’s not explicitly mentioned in the paper is the need for creating more accessible animal models for antivirals therapy discovery. Animal models are the foundation of our medical knowledge and that future advances will depend on availability and accessibility of animal model platforms.
InVivo Biosystems is building humanized clinical avatars to the ACE2 protein and other important target in attempts to produce a fast and easy to use animal model platform for antivirals therapy discovery. Learn more about our Genetic Models for COVID-19 Research.
