A research laboratory for the production of viral and bacterial-based biological agents using sterile manufacturing technology will be built at the University of Debrecen, the project leaders announced at an online press conference on Thursday.
Ákos Pintér, Deputy Rector General, emphasized that DE had won a non-refundable grant of HUF 3.999 billion in the EIDHR tender. The establishment of the Pilot Research Laboratory at the University of Debrecen is implemented with the support of the European Union, within the framework of the Széchenyi 2020 program.
According to the Deputy Rector, the experiments and research in the new laboratory will also contribute to the work in the future national vaccine factory.
Katalin Sebők, Vice-President of the National Office for Research, Development and Innovation, emphasized that the University of Debrecen is at the forefront of linking university knowledge and economic actors, and that the development of the pilot laboratory also fits into this line.
The innovation office supports the cooperation between knowledge and the economy, last year HUF 145 billion was allocated for such purposes, she added.
It was stated at the online project opening: the pilot laboratory will take place in the Vezér Street University Innovation Park, where it will be possible to produce viral and bacterial-based biological agents with sterile production technology in two separate areas. The propagation and storage of viruses and bacteria will take place in two separate biosafety level 2 (BSL2) work environments.
Viral research is primarily aimed at developing modern viral vaccine research. The infrastructure to be developed will raise the research of viral vaccines to a higher level, enable experiments related to prototype vaccines and developments related to their formulation – it was added that in the bacteriological department medium and high-volume fermentor production of strains is possible with the help of the project.
The professional briefing said: “Using recombinant protein technology, proteins from different viruses will be able to be produced in large numbers by bacteria, which is a prerequisite for the development of new types of recombinant vaccines. The production of recombinant proteins in a fermentor will not only be suitable for the development of viral vaccines, but will also be suitable for research into and production of various proteinaceous therapeutics (insulin, somatotropic hormone). ”
Deputy Rector Ákos Pintér also emphasized that the researchers participating in the project are researchers of the cross-faculty research group networks of the University of Debrecen. These research networks bring together expertise from different disciplines, bringing together a wide range of professionals – pharmacologists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, bioengineers, pharmaceutical technologists, botanists, biologists, analysts, economists, lawyers – to monitor the entire development process.
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