Creating Fast and Safe Tests for Viruses like COVID-19
Official title: Development of Safe and Rapid Reporter Viruses for Studying Pathogenic and Pandemic Viruses
Funded at Integral Molecular · NIH-11124869 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to create a quicker and safer lab test to measure how well antibodies protect against viruses, including those that cause pandemics.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 1 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Integral Molecular NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $288,515 |
| NIH project number | 5R43AI186556-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11124869 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This project does not directly involve patient participation, but its results could benefit anyone who might need vaccines or treatments for viral infections, especially during pandemics.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking direct clinical care or immediate treatment options would not directly benefit from this laboratory tool development.
What this research studies
Current methods for checking how well our bodies fight off viruses, especially after vaccination, can be slow and difficult to perform safely with dangerous viruses. This project is developing a new, faster, and safer lab test called a Rapid Reporter Virus (RRV). This new test will help scientists quickly see how effective vaccines or treatments are by measuring the body's protective response. The goal is to make it easier and quicker to test many samples, which is crucial during large-scale vaccine development.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this new test could significantly speed up the development and testing of vaccines and antiviral treatments for dangerous viruses, leading to faster protection for communities.
How similar studies have gone: While traditional methods exist, this project aims to create a novel, more streamlined, and safer assay that improves upon existing reporter virus technologies.
Where this research is happening
-
Integral Molecular
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Doranz, Benjamin J — Integral Molecular
- Study coordinator: Doranz, Benjamin J
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Specificity screening tool to improve biotherapeutic safety
A new lab test helps check if antibody and CAR-T therapies might bind to unintended parts of the body, aiming to prevent safety problems before medicines reach patients.
-
High-throughput discovery of antibodies for hard-to-study membrane proteins
A NIH grant aims to create and test many monoclonal antibodies against important but understudied membrane proteins to help research and potential therapies.
-
Finding antibodies for understudied cell-surface proteins using mRNA
This project uses mRNA to produce hard-to-study cell-surface proteins so researchers can find antibodies that might lead to new tests or treatments for people affected by those proteins.
-
Identifying how antibodies protect against certain viral infections
This study is looking at how our immune system's antibodies recognize certain parts of Enterovirus and Bunyavirus, which could help create better vaccines and treatments for everyone.
-
Creating faster and safer tests for viruses like COVID-19
This study is working on a new virus test that helps quickly and safely check how well antibodies fight off viruses like COVID-19, making it easier for researchers to get faster results for vaccine trials and other important health studies.
-
Developing a tool to improve the safety of biotherapeutic drugs
This study is working on a new way to make sure that certain advanced treatments for diseases, like monoclonal antibodies and CAR-T cell therapies, are safer by using a special tool to better understand how they interact with the body, which could help prevent problems before they happen.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.