Rapidly Unlocking Actionable Insights in the Fight Against COVID-19

How we are making a difference today

Metabolon has made quick connections with several leading medical centers and heads of large cohorts to leverage the power of our metabolomics platform and gain deep insights into all aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current COVID-19 projects include:

• High-throughput global and lipidomic analysis of serially collected samples from hospitalized ICU patients to provide a comprehensive view of metabolic perturbations associated with patient disease responses and identify biomarkers specific for each stage of infection
• Global metabolomic profiling of longitudinal plasma samples from confirmed COVID-positive patients to understand system metabolic changes over the trajectory of infection and which patients are at the highest risk of severe infection
• Metabolomic profiling to better understand COVID vaccine development and efficacy, including (1) responses to immunization for early detection and even prediction of potential adverse events, (2) protective effects of immunization against infection and disease: that leverages metabolomics to monitor response to immunization, and (3) guidelines for basic research to identify metabolites characteristic for prevention of disease by vaccination
• Global metabolomic profiling to probe host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 during asymptomatic and symptomatic phases of infection to identify biomarkers that predict disease severity in vulnerable populations
• Global metabolomic and lipidomic profiling to identify at-risk individuals for COVID infection and stratify populations for potential treatment options
• Interventional clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. This same approach can be deployed to understand the effectiveness of all other therapeutics, such as remdesivir
• Direct comparison of baseline versus infected samples in patients who were subsequently confirmed positive for COVID to discover markers of infection and why individuals display large differences in infection severity

Contact us today for free study-design consultation with our infectious-disease experts.

Learn more about how metabolomics provides a comprehensive view for more informed decisions

Comprehensive metabolomic profiling can simultaneously inform on several biological processes relevant to infection, such as inflammatory and redox markers, energetics, microbiome contribution, and xenobiotic impact. These insights can lead to predictive response signatures and therapy strategies.

The following publications exemplify how metabolomics can provide unique biological insights supporting infectious disease and countermeasures research:

Publications

Predicting COVID-19 disease severity

• Integration of metabolomics and proteomics to develop a predictive model (Shen, B, Cell, 2020; PMID: 32492406)

Pathophysiology and Immune Response

• Understanding mechanisms in the pathophysiology of upper respiratory infections (Woods, 2016, APJ-Lung Cellular; PMID: 27836900)
• Guiding effective intervention and understanding the role of local microbiome (Stewart, Am J Respir Crit Care Med, 2017; PMID: 28530140)
• Predicting disease severity (Weiner, Clin Infect Dis 2019; PMID: 31412355)

Optimization of vaccine production and therapeutic development

• Providing actionable insights for vaccine development and scale-up of cell line-developed viral vaccines (Lin, J Biotechnol, 2020; PMID: 31697974)
• Improving antibody production (Kuwae, Cytotechnology, 2018; PMID: 29322349)

Patient stratification and risk assessment

• Guiding effective intervention and efficacy based on underlying pathophysiological conditions (Weiner, Nat Commun 2018; PMID: 30523338)
• Stratifying patients by age to identify inflammatory state (Furman, Nat Med, 2017; PMID: 28092664)
• Identify and stratify patients with impaired glucose tolerance (Wildberg, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2019; PMID: 31390012)

Metabolomic profiling for the identification of therapeutics for viral infections

• Enhancing understanding of viral activity to predict viral treatment (Gualdoni, et al. PNAS, 2019; PMID:29987044)

Case Studies

• Pathophysiology and Immune Response – Understanding the pathophysiology and immune response of infectious diseases is vital for discovering effective treatments. These case studies support several problem-oriented metabolomics applications to SARS-CoV-2 by identifying metabolomic changes during infection and predicting disease severity and need for effective intervention and efficacy.
• Optimization of vaccine production and therapeutic development – When dealing with a pandemic like COVID-19, vaccine development and discovery of therapeutics are essential to improving outcomes. These case studies address the need for actionable insights for vaccine development that metabolomics provides through a comprehensive view driving operational and quality improvements and antibody production.
• Patient stratification and risk assessment – Understanding the effects of age, gender and comorbidities on susceptibility to COVID-19, response to treatment and outcomes like mortality are vital for improved outcomes. These case studies highlight how metabolomics guides effective intervention and efficacy.
• Metabolomic profiling for identification of therapeutics for viral infections – Comprehensive metabolomic profiling can simultaneously inform on several biological processes relevant to infection, such as inflammatory and redox markers, energetics, microbiome contribution and xenobiotic impact. These insights can lead to predictive response signatures and therapy strategies. The following case studies demonstrate how metabolomics enhances understanding of viral activity, helps to predict viral treatment and supports informed decisions on vaccine development.

Science Goes On: Join our Conversation

Metabolon understands that science goes on no matter the circumstances. That’s why we’re proud to introduce Insights & Discoveries with Metabolon, a virtual event series to continue the conversation around the science of life. We’ve assembled our team of experts along with guest speakers for some events to discuss scientific advances in metabolomics that are driving research forward.

For more information or to sign up for notifications on the series, click here.