We are the combination of four hospitals: the General Hospital, the Children’s Hospital, the Women’s Hospital and the Traumatology, Rehabilitation and Burns Hospital. We are part of the Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus: a world-leading health park where healthcare plays a crucial role.
Below we will list the departments and units that form part of Vall d’Hebron Hospital and the main diseases that we treat. We will also make recommendations based on advice backed up by scientific evidence that has been shown to be effective in guaranteeing well-being and quality of life.
Vols saber com serà la teva estada a l’Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron? Aquí trobaràs tota la informació.
It is expected that some of the selected projects will be able to reach patients before the end of the year and provide clinical assistance with new tools to combat SARS-CoV-2, as scientific evidence is obtained.
This afternoon the Consellera de Salut, Alba Vergés, has announced the projects that will receive funding from the emergency call promoted by the Catalonian Department of Health through the General Directorate of Research and Innovation in Health (DGRIS) with the collaboration of AQuAS and Biocat and addressed to the centers of the alliance IRISCAT (Institutes of Research and Innovation in Health of Catalonia). Two fo them from the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) which are led by doctors María José Buzón and Meritxell Genescà, and by Josep Quer and Andrés Antón, respectively;and one project from de Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) led by Dr. Joan Seoane.
In total, the DGRIS will finance a total of 19 research and innovation projects for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 disease with 4 million euros. Projects to be funded include Covid-19 therapies (new therapies, antibody and plasma therapies, clinical trials with new combinations and uses of drugs already on the market, and clinical trials with investigational drugs for other indications); vaccines and preventive treatments; genetic studies and predictive studies (identification of virulence factors and prognostic biomarkers, and projects to study the population's immune response and prediction of complications).
Dr. Joan Seoane, Head of the VHIO Cancer Gene Expression Laboratory, co-director of the VHIO Pre-clinical and Translational Research program and professor ICREA leads a project to reposition an antibody against cancer as a potential treatment for cancer. Covid-19. Repositioning consists of seeking new therapeutic applications for an existing treatment, in this case, a therapeutic anti-LIF antibody, initially designed for cancer treatment, as an activator of the immune system of patients with Covid-19.
LIF is an immunosuppressive molecule that plays a crucial role in the implantation of the embryo in the maternal uterus, since it protects the embryo from the mother's immune system. Previous studies have shown that LIF is found at very high levels in some tumors, preventing the patient's immune system from destroying them. LIF has also been found to induce some tumor-associated viruses, and even other types of infections.
The project will identify whether SARS-CoV-2 is one of the viruses that LIF uses to prevent the immune system of patients from recognizing it. If so, LIF could be attacked with an antiviral drug blocking it, so the patient's immune system could detect the virus and attack it, thereby preventing infection.
Dr. Seoane's team has developed an antibody that attacks LIF in tumors (MSC1) in previous studies and is already in the clinical trial phase. Thus, if SARS-CoV-2 is confirmed to use LIF, it will be tested whether MSC1 is also effective against Covid-19.
Director, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology
Management, General Hospital
Teaching Management, General Hospital
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