CORONA - PlasmaplusCorona - Plasma-based respiratory tract disinfection to reduce SARSCoV-2 viral load in vitro and in vivo; subproject 2

The current coronavirus pandemic demonstrates once again that zoonotic viruses can cross species boundaries at any time and spread from animals to humans. Several years may pass before a suitable vaccine against the new pandemic virus is available. Therefore, until a vaccine is widely available, it is of utmost importance and urgency to develop appropriate therapeutic interventions that will significantly reduce viral load and thus contribute to reduced overall mortality. In these experimental projects, the highly innovative plasma technology for viral load reduction by respiratory tract disinfection will be evaluated for its potential therapeutic use against covid-19. The preclinical evaluation of plasma therapy against Covid-19 will be performed in a suitable animal model (hamster), which reflects the clinical findings very well. Here, potential toxicities of different plasma sources will first be investigated in the hamster model and non-toxic treatment protocols will be determined accordingly. Subsequently, SARS-CoV-2 infected animals will be treated orally and inhalatively with different plasma sources using established protocols and their efficacy in reducing the viral load in the respiratory tract will be determined. The results from this experimental project will lead the way for the development of new plasma-based therapies against infections.