News

Tohoku University's Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer (IDAC) is offering free use of its research resources in an effort to help develop an antibody solution to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, antiviral drugs that act directly on the novel coronavirus are being developed; however, IDAC believes that there is also an urgent need to develop antibody drugs and therapies. For this reason, the institute is building a research base that can analyze the gene structure of antibodies and immune receptors.

According to researchers, patients recovering from the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV2) infection may have human antibodies to SARS-CoV2. By clarifying the genetic structure of these antibodies, artificial antibodies can be created, and new diagnostic and therapeutic methods developed.

As there is an urgent need to curtail the spread of COVID-19, IDAC is offering free use of its immunoreceptor analysis tools and its support for gene structure analysis. This support is open to research institutions, hospitals and companies working to find a cure.

How to apply:

1. Contact IDAC by email at immunobiology@grp.tohoku.ac.jp
2. Send sample sequences from patients (data from next-generation sequencers, and so forth).
3. Immunorepertoire analysis is performed at Tohoku University.
4. The applicant will then be granted permission to use the immunoreceptor analysis tool to analyze the genetic structure of antibodies (BCR) and T cell receptors (TCR).

This support will, in effect, be for one year until April 30, 2021 (may be extended if necessary).

News in Japanese