BrainMap

Norica Beatrice Nichita

- INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer

Expertise & keywords

Call name: Premierea obtinerii atestatului de abilitare - Competitia 2015
PN-II-RU-ABIL-2015-2-0151 2015 -

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE

Project partners: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE (RO)

Affiliation: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

DEVELOPMENT OF A COST EFFECTIVE ROMANIA-NORWAY JOINT PLANT-BASED TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM FOR PRODUCTION OF VACCINES AGAINST HUMAN HEPATITIS VIRUSES B (HBV) AND C (HCV) Call name: EEA Research Programme under EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014
EEA-JRP-RO-NO-2013-1-0022 2013 -

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE

Project partners: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE (RO); Norwegian Institute for Agricultural & Environmental Research (Bioforsk) (NO); INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE - DEZVOLTARE PENTRU MICROBIOLOGIE SI IMUNOLOGIE "CANTACUZINO" (RO); INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE BOLI INFECTIOASE ''PROF.DR.MATEI BALS'' (RO); Center for Infection & Immunity of Lille (FR)

Affiliation: INSTITUTUL DE BIOCHIMIE (RO)

Project website:

Abstract:

This GreenVac research proposal aims to contribute to sustainable improvements in health of vulnerable social groups in Romania, in accordance with the health-related millennium development goals (MDGs) of the United Nation. It is also highly relevant to the EEA Research Programme between Romania and Norway where health is one of the four prioritized thematic areas.
Hepatitis B (HBV) and C viruses (HCV) are important human pathogens resulting in more than 500 million people being currently carriers. Chronically infected patients are at high risk to develop severe liver diseases, such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is one of the most frequent forms of cancer in humans and a fast progressing disease with a very high mortality rate, less than 5% of diagnosed patients surviving for up to 5-years (1). Most of these cases occur in developing countries resulting in widespread social and economic problems, especially among the poor people. Sadly, Romania has the highest prevalence of HBV/HCV infections among the EU countries (up to 7% of the population).
Current therapies against HBV/HCV, based on replication inhibitors and immune system activators are associated with severe side effects, resulting frequently in early discontinuation of treatment. In addition, both viruses are prone to development of resistance to antiviral inhibitors, which reduces significantly the efficiency of treatment (2).
Efficient anti- HBV vaccines are available on market; however, the costs associated with their production, the lack of appropriate distribution infrastructure and the need of highly trained medical personnel have significantly affected the application of mass immunization programs in developing countries. In addition, recent studies have shown that up to 10% individuals fail to develop a protective immune response to current vaccines and are exposed to infection (3). In the case of HCV, although intensive research is undergoing, no vaccine has been developed yet and 3-4 million of new infections are expected to occur every year.
In this context, affordable vaccines and treatments against these diseases are essential for reducing the loss of life and economic burden to the health sector and individuals in Romania, Europe and rest of the world. With the economic difficulties Europe is facing, reduction of costs in the health sector and saving lives are definitely our responsibilities of European scientists. We propose therefore a Romanian -Norwegian project on: “Developing a cost effective Romania-Norway joint plant-based technology platform for production of oral and intravenous vaccines against Hepatitis viruses HCV and HBV” which aims to (i) develop a cost-effective and safe plant-based production system for HCV and HBV vaccines via tobacco chloroplast genetic engineering and transient expression systems, (ii) determine the functionality of the tobacco chloroplast-derived HCV and HBV vaccines. The cost of downstream processing for plant-made pharmaceuticals and vaccines is usually about 80% of the total production cost. However, edible crops offer unique advantages in significantly reducing these costs. We take thus our experience in tobacco produced vaccine development a key step forward by aiming to (iii) establish an innovative oral vaccine production platform, (iv) produce HCV and HBV vaccines for oral administration, (v) establish the immunogenicity of the experimental HBV and HCV vaccines and (vi) conduct a socio-economic evaluation of the tobacco and edible crop (lettuce) derived HCV and HBV vaccines. Capacity building by recruiting a PhD student in Romania and dissemination of our knowledge and project results are also important for the project and well planned. In addition to Norway and Romania, the project consortium includes also experienced European scientists from leading institutions in Germany and France.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects