Estonian, Finnish Companies Cooperate to Find a Cure for Ebola
Estonian biotechnology group Icosagen, in cooperation with FIT Biotech from Finland, are planning on programs to develop a vaccine and a cure for Ebola.
Mart Ustav, the founder and CEO of Icosagen and a professor of biomedicine technology at the University of Tartu, told Eesti Päevaleht that work on the vaccine will start presently and the first clinical trials should be under way in 2016, but it is too early to say when the new product will arrive in the market.
The QMCF Technology that Icosagen developed and holds a patent for, has been licensed to a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechology companies. The QMCF system can be used for the production of proteins, antibodies and virus-like particles for basic research and pharmaceutical development.
"As our technology could be used to develop a vaccine for Ebola, we feel we have a duty to participate in the fight against this disease," Ustav said. "I am confident that our collaboration makes a contribution to its prevention and cure."
Also involved in the project in its various stages are the Institute of Technology of the University of Tartu and partners from France and Switzerland.