According to the statement of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology, the purpose of the cooperation starting with government support is not to develop an immune protection vaccine, but to develop a therapeutic product that will neutralize the virus in the body of infected people.
As described, a "fusion protein" may be most suitable for treating the disease caused by the new coronavirus based on medical literature. Like all medicine research, the development of a therapeutic protein is time consuming and carries many risks and uncertainties. The process must fully meet the strict requirements set by the authorities.
Even in the case of a successful product development, it can take years for the product to enter the market - they emphasized, however, if the project succeeds in this extremely fierce international competition, it could lay the foundation for the treatment of coronavirus and similar diseases in Hungary for decades.
The Ministry for Innovation and Technology supports the development of the product from the available research and development resources. The consortium is led by the Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Science Department of Immunology, its members are prominent representatives of the Hungarian higher education and pharmaceutical research sphere. The colleagues of the University of Pécs Faculty of Sciences Institute of Biology and the Szentágothai Research Centre also participate in the work. The corporate side of the cooperation is provided by Gedeon Richter Nyrt., a leader in national pharmaceutical research and biotechnological development with appropriate manufacturing capacities, and by the professionals of the ImmunoGenes Kft. who carry out biotechnological developments on an international level – writes ITM in its statement.