COVITRAP™ - Crafting an invisible trap against COVID-19

BkkSci is a monthly informal science and technology forum loosely based on Cafe Scientifique, held free of change in central Bangkok. We've been operating for about 10 years and have more than 2,000 members.

This month's topic: COVITRAP™ - Crafting an invisible trap against COVID-19

Keeping COVID-19 at bay requires additional measures beyond vaccination, social distancing, and masking. COVITRAP™, a nasal spray solution containing human IgG1 antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, was developed to strengthen other COVID-19 preventive arsenals. It has been approved by the Thai FDA as an innovative medical device platform to support mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infections via antibody-mediated specific inhibition coupled with a steric barrier. Here, Dr. Trairak will share the behind-the-screen story from the product's conception to its launch and his vision to bring back the "real" normal through deep-tech innovation and unified endeavors.

Trairak Pisitkun is a physician-scientist currently appointed as Director of the Center of Excellence in Systems Biology at Chulalongkorn University and a scientist at the National Institutes of Health, USA. He and his team are conducting several research and development programs in immunotherapeutics, precision medicine, systems biology, and computational biology. His cancer immunotherapy project has received outstanding support from the Thai people. He holds several intellectual properties in therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and personalized cancer vaccine designs.

Further information:

• A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a nasal spray solution containing broadly potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants in healthy volunteers - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.04.22280574v1

Logistics:
This month we'll be meeting virtually on https://meet.jit.si/BangkokScientifique on your computer or as an app from the following links:

• Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.jitsi.meet
• iOS (iPhone, iPad): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jitsi-meet/id1165103905
  and enter BangkokScientifique as the room name.

Schedule:
18.30 - meet virtually for a short social session, giving everyone the opportunity to set up their devices
19.00 - presentation starts
19.30 - QA

Frequently Asked Questions (quoted from Cafe Scientifique):
What is Cafe Scientifique?

Cafe Scientifique is a forum for the discussion of current work and interesting scientific issues. Cafes are informal and accessible.

Who else will be there?

Cafe audiences are people who are interested in science. Anyone can participate; speakers are there to be questioned and talk about their work at all levels.