TIDMDVRG
RNS Number : 6935G
Deepverge PLC
27 November 2020
27 November 2020
DeepVerge PLC
(AIM:DVRG)
("DeepVerge" or "the Company")
Interim analysis from University of Aberdeen Labskin study
demonstrates ability to host
SARS-CoV-2 virus on Labskin cloned human skin microbiome
Breakthrough results allow real-world testing of anti-viral
compounds without human volunteers
Study extended to investigate additional COVID-19 behaviours on
skin
DeepVerge announces interim results from its Labskin partnership
with University of Aberdeen following analysis of a study to
investigate the behaviour of SARS-CoV-2 virus on Labskin's cloned
human skin microbiome to enable testing of COVID-19 anti-viral and
dental products.
Labskin scientists have successfully populated and maintained
the SARS-CoV-2 virus on skin models creating a breakthrough
environment that enables testing of household chemicals, anti-viral
products, skin and health care products, and their effect on the
human skin microbiome as well as their efficacy at killing the
virus over long periods of time.
The DeepVerge study is designed to investigate:
-- The transmissibility from surfaces to airways via skin by
measuring its viability when recovered from surface(s) to skin and
skin to skin;
-- What sanitisers kill the virus on skin (this is anecdotally
assumed to be correct based on the World Health Organisation
("WHO") research on other bacteria, but not proven for Covid);
-- The reduction of titre and/or virulence;
-- The ability of the virus to activate innate immune response
on the human living tissue (Labskin model); and
-- How long the virus lives on skin.
These results validate Labskin's ability to provide access to
real-world clones of the human skin microbiome while removing the
risk of transmission of the virus to human volunteers. For the
first time, in safety, clients can test their products,
ingredients, treatments and therapies on SARS-CoV-2 and potentially
other dangerous viruses and pathogens in real-world
environments.
DeepVerge has extended the investigation and will include:
-- Viability of the virus when transferred as full coronavirus
particles from plastic and metal surfaces to the laboratory grown
human skin model and the potential risk for infection through the
skin;
-- Ability of SARS-CoV-2 to activate innate immune response on the Labskin model; and
-- Ability to reproduce on the skin and how long it remains viable - and therefore infectious.
Gerard Brandon, CEO of DeepVerge plc, commented:
"Society has depended on anecdotal or theoretical evidence to
determine how infectious skin is, as humans touch surfaces and each
other. The work in Aberdeen provides factual data and empirical
evidence of surface to skin and skin to skin transferability to
provide quantifiable infection risks. The body of research,
protocols and methods created on Labskin, working with the real
virus, offers confirmation and sets standards that allow for
testing of our client's anti-viral household, skin and health care
products, so that consumers are given scientific evidence behind
products claims to kill or address the risk of transmission of the
virus.
"Labskin is now a proxy skin environment for deep research and
testing, beyond Labskin laboratories, with our partners in the
universities in Liverpool, UK, Genoa, Italy and Shanghai, China.
The extended scientific community can monitor how long the virus
remains viable on the skin and provide empirical proof of viral
load over the length of time that the virus survives - to show how
vulnerable and infectious a human can be in their daily
interactions and activities. "
Background details of study
The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is presumed to be transmitted by close
contact and respiratory droplets. However, other means of plausible
indirect transmission have already been described via fomites
(e.g., elevator buttons or restroom taps) [i] . A study published
in The New England Journal of Medicine [ii] has confirmed that
SARS-CoV-2 has a longer stability on various surfaces than the
previously known coronavirus SARS-CoV-1. This study has found that
the current pandemic virus shows viable infective units after 3
hours in aerosol, up to 4 hours when deposited in copper surfaces,
up to 24 hours in cardboard and up to 72 hours in plastic and
stainless steel. Although the virus titre was greatly reduced,
these findings clearly point toward additional sources of viral
transmission that need to be assessed.
Advice from WHO and health agencies to avoid contagion stresses
the need for hand washing using ethanol-based hand sanitisers.
Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care: First Global Patient
Safety Challenge Clean Care Is Safer Care [iii] . While laboratory
experiments show the virus can be killed successfully using a
variety of sanitisers, there is little evidence available about the
resilience of SARS-CoV-2 when tested on the living human skin
microbiome.
About the skin model
Labskin is a unique full-thickness human skin model which was
specifically developed for the study of the human skin microflora
and the microbiota/host interactions [ [iv] , [v] ]. Its dryness
and barrier function create an ideal environment where individual
or multiple microbial species can thrive to form a stable
community. Labskin can be colonised with microorganisms belonging
to the three domains of life and these can be infected with
bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens. The features of the Labskin
models make it ideal to study the transferability of viral
particles from any sort of material to skin, to assess the ability
of the virus to remain infective while in the skin surface and to
quantify the efficacy of soap washing and hand sanitisers in a
realistic in vitro model.
For further information please contact:
+44 (0) 7340 055
DeepVerge plc Gerard Brandon, CEO 648
SPARK Advisory Partners Limited Neil Baldwin/Andrew +44 (0) 113 370
(Nominated Adviser) Emmott 8974
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) +44 (0) 20 3657
Limited (Broker) Andy Thacker/Zoe Alexander 0050
About DeepVerge plc (www.deepverge.com)
DeepVerge is a scientific research and AI-as-a-Service company
focused on production and analysis of bacteria, virus and toxins
utilising artificial intelligent data analytics in regulatory
technology, from scientifically proving the impact of skincare
product claims on skin microbiome for top 20 global cosmetic
company clients to remotely detecting water contamination in
real-time.
In November 2020, DeepVerge acquired Modern Water who developed
and commercialised a cutting-edge technology, focused on monitoring
of contaminated water and decontamination of wastewater, making
recycling of water more efficient. Six countries across the world
have legislated that Modern Water monitoring test systems are
written into their environmental protection legislation. The
Company is in clinical and field trials for its real-time
contamination product, Microtox PD, for the identification of
pathogens, which include the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for
COVID-19 disease and to quickly alert for hotspots before spreading
throughout the community.
[i] Cai, J., et al., Indirect Virus Transmission in Cluster of
COVID-19 Cases, Wenzhou, China, 2020. Emerg Infect Dis, 2020.
26(6).
[ii] van Doremalen, N., et al., Aerosol and Surface Stability of
SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1. New England Journal of
Medicine, 2020.
[iii] https://www.who.int/gpsc/5may/tools/9789241597906/en/
[iv] Holland, D.B., et al., Differential innate immune responses
of a living skin equivalent model colonized by Staphylococcus
epidermidis or Staphylococcus aureus. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 2009.
290(2): p. 149-55.
[v] Holland, D.B., et al., Microbial colonization of an in vitro
model of a tissue engineered human skin equivalent--a novel
approach. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 2008. 279(1): p. 110-5.
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