The project led by the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência in partnership with the Hospital Professor Doutor Fernando Fonseca received an award from the Gilead Sciences 2021 Program.

The INFO-VAC Project, defined to monitor the COVID19 vaccine effectiveness in oncological patients was one of the three awarded in the research category in the Gilead Genesis 2021 Program. This year´s edition received it was the one with more applications since its launch in 2013.

The INFO-VAC project aims to study the effectiveness of the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The oncological patients group being followed, 211 in the first phase, revealed that 43% developed antibodies after the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, increasing to 83% after the full vaccination regimen. However, the percentage of patients who develop antibodies in this time period varies depending on the type of vaccine administered and the therapy they are given.

The prize awarded by Gilead will allow the IGC research team to move on to a second phase and evaluate the type of immune response in this population. This study is particularly urgent as this is a population at higher risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19 and often individuals on immunosuppressive therapies that compromise the immune system.

Alongside this group, the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência is monitoring health professionals, the educational community, and the elderly to assess the response to the vaccine. In total, around 3000 participants are part of the study.

 

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