Clinical Trials and Expanded Access

Translational, prospective / retrospective, non-profit, non-pharmacological study, with cohort characteristics. The study consists of two parts: the first to study epidemiological aspects of the spread of the disease and the second one to identify infection-related genetic factors.

The new Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently responsible for a pandemic spread of febrile respiratory infections, responsible for a veritable global health crisis. In adults, several evolutionary patterns are observed: i) a/pauci-symptomatic forms; ii) severe forms immediately linked to rare extensive viral pneumonia; and iii) forms of moderate severity, some of which progress to secondary aggravation (Day 7-Day 10). Children can be affected, but are more rarely symptomatic and severe pediatric forms are exceptional. Like some other coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)), these differences in clinical expression could be based on a variability in the immunological response, notably either via inhibition of the type I interferon (IFN-I) response, or on the contrary an immunological dysregulation responsible for a "cytokine storm" associated with the aggravation. Little is known about the impact of these innate immune response abnormalities on the adaptive response. In addition, certain genetic factors predisposing to a state of "hyper-fragility" and certain viral virulence factors could also be predictive of the clinical response. In this context, the main hypothesis is that the virological analysis and the initial biological and immunological profiles are correlated with the initial clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection. In particular, children forms and pauci-symptomatic disease in adults may be linked to a more robust innate immune response, including better production of IFN-I.

In December 2019, a pneumonia due to a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the city of Wuhan, in China. In a few weeks, the number of confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection has dramatically increased, with almost 150'000 cases and more than 6'000 reported deaths on March, 16th 2020. Little is known on the rate of human-to-human transmission of this new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the community and within the hospital. Depending on the country, contact subjects considered to be at high or moderate risk of SARS-CoV-2 are, either isolated at home for a period of time defined by the health authorities or, on the contrary, continue their professional activity on the condition that they adopt measures to prevent transmission to those around them. In most European countries, healthcare workers adopt this second option. In all cases, it is most often recommended that contact persons monitor their state of health and communicate it to the persons dedicated to this action. Whether such subjects become spreaders of the virus is not known, nor is the proportion of viral spreader who will develop a symptomatic infection. In this study, we aim to evaluate the virological and clinical outcomes of subjects following a contact at high/moderate risk of SARS-CoV-2 acquisition, in community-subjects and/or healthcare workers. The study population is represented by all subjects who had a contact with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases and whose contact was considered to be at high/moderate risk of SARS-CoV-2 acquisition. This include both children and adult subjects, subject without social security, and healthcare workers.

There is a considerable variation in the disease behavior in terms of contracting the infection, manifesting none to a range of symptoms and severity of the infection among individuals exposed to or infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative organism of COVID-19. Although the respiratory system appears to be the primary target of this virus infection, emerging evidences suggests involvement of extra-pulmonary organs including central nervous system. We aim to compare the genetic profile of individuals with vs without COVID-19 after being exposed to infected cases. Additionally, we will assess the cognitive function in covid-19 positive cases with vs. without neurological symptoms at the time of infection and 1-month follow-up using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire.

GEN-COVID multicenter study aims to identify the genetic variants of the host genome responsible for the clinical variability of patients with COVID-19. This variability to date is only partially related to the age and comorbidities of patients. The primary objective of the study is therefore to identify genetic variants associated with the severity of the disease, while the secondary objective consists in the identification of variants associated with longitudinal disease trajectories. This is a laboratory study that involves the conduct of genetic investigations, including whole exome sequencing and genome wide association studies, on human biological material from patients affected by COVID-19. Clinical information useful to describe the level of disease severity will be also collected for each enrolled patient. A total of at least 2,000 COVID-19 patients is expected to be included.

An estimated 22% of the global population is at an increased risk of a severe form of COVID-19, while one in four coronavirus patients admitted to intensive care unit will develop a pulmonary embolism. A major public health question remains to be investigated: why COVID-19 is mild for some, critically severe for others and why only a percentage of COVID-19 patients develop thrombosis, despite the disease's proven hypercoagulable state? Patients' intrinsic characteristics might be responsible for the deep variety of disease forms. Our study aims to assess the validity of the hypothesis according to which underlining genetic variations might be responsible for different degrees of severity and thrombotic events risks in the novel coronavirus disease. Moreover, we suspect that prothrombotic genotypes occuring in the genes that encode angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE-DEL/INS) and angiotensinogen (AGT M235T) are involved in the unpredictable evolution of COVID-19, both in terms of severity and thrombotic events, due to the strong interactions of SARS-CoV-2 with the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). Therefore, we also aim to assess the validity of the theory according to which there is a pre-existing atypical modulation of RAAS in COVID-19 patients that develop severe forms and/or thrombosis. Our hypothesis is based on various observations. Firstly, there is a substantial similarity with a reasonably related condition such as sepsis, for which there is a validated theory stating that thrombophilic mutations affect patients' clinical response. Secondly, racial and ethnic genetic differences are responsible for significant dissimilar thrombotic risks among various nations. Thirdly, an increase in stroke incidence has been reported in young patients with COVID-19, without essential thrombosis risk factors, favoring the idea that a genetic predisposition could contribute to increase the thrombotic and thromboembolic risk. Fourthly, the plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 4G/5G inherited mutation was found to be responsible for a thrombotic state causing post-SARS osteonecrosis.

The aim of this effort is to study host-pathogen interaction in Egyptian patients infected with COVID-19. The investigators will perform genome-wide miRNA and transcriptome screens in the infected patients along with healthy ones for comparison. All types of cytokines play pivotal roles in immunity, including the responses to different viral infections. Therefore, The investigators will study the cytokines profile in response to that infection. By comparing miRNA and transcriptome screens along with cytokines profiles, an important molecule might be identified that could play role in the inhibition of the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, this information will help us gaining awareness of the immune process and knowing about the genes involved in the immune response against COVID-19 with an emphasis on the expression of cytokines.