The initiative aims to create a platform which will facilitate the creation of new biopharmaceuticals to prevent viral infections and also improve the control of viral threats.
Cláudio M. Soares and Diana Lousa are researchers in the António Xavier Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology, at the Nova University of Lisbon (ITQB Nova) and they are presenting a new platform which will revolutionize the anticipation of new outbreaks.
After the Covid-19 pandemics, a need to anticipate possible new outbreaks arose given the importance of preparation to achieve a more effective response against rising infections. Thus, the two researchers developed the BioPlaTTAR – Platform for the Tailored and Rapid Development of Antiviral Biopharmaceuticals.
The initiative aims to create a platform which will facilitate the creation of new biopharmaceuticals to prevent viral infections and also improve the control of viral threats. A set of different fields of work ally themselves with biochemistry, namely mathematical algorithms specialties.
Diana Lousa highlights the significance of having a pre-set structure to fight possibly emerging viruses in an interview with the newspaper Observador – “From the most efficient method of designing proteins, to the best means of production and validation, so that, in only a few months, we might have a small protein or antibody specifically designed to attack a new virus or variant.”
In this area, Portugal again established itself as a leader with its scientific research preparing for possible future pandemics.
