CABEI granted a US$500,000 donation to Costa Rica for antibodies formulation against the Coronavirus

13/08/2020

The antibodies formulated by the Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Cota Rica (ICP-UCR), are able to inhibit the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.

San José, August 13, 2020.- The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) approved a non-refundable financial cooperation for US$500,000 for the Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Costa Rica (ICP-UCR), which objective is supporting research for the production of a therapeutically formulation of antibodies against the Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-10 patients treatment.

This cooperation is part of CABEI’s most recent support to its founding member countries to address the emergency caused by the pandemic, with the donation of US$2,500,000, distributed equally, between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

"Since the beginning of the health crisis in the region, CABEI has focused on providing support of a different kind through the implementation of the COVID-19 Emergency Support and Awareness Program and its economic revitalization. We are pleased to know that Costa Rica will use this new cooperation in such strong clinical research that will combat COVID-19," said CABEI’s Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.

A first batch of two coronavirus antibody formulations produced by ICP-UCR was delivered this week to the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) for clinical trial in patients positive to the virus. This collaborative study between CCSS and UCR will compare the safety and efficacy between the two formulations.

Dr. Alberto Alape-Girón, a researcher coordinating the Project at ICP-UCR, thanked CABEI for its support and indicated that this contribution will be of great help to the new stage of research in which performance will be optimized. So that the option of scaling production of the formulation, showing a better performance during the clinical trial, can be assessed.

The ICP is a multidisciplinary academic unit dedicated to scientific and technological research, consolidated as one of the main research and technological development centers on issues related to venoms at the Latin American and global level, and the only producer of therapeutic antivenom in Central America and Panama.

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